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LIBRARY 

•TATE  TEACHERS  COLLEOE 
•ANTA    BARBARA.   CALlFCmNIA 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/collegeachievemeOOgambiala 


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College  Achievement  and 
Vocational  Efficiency 

By 

Bessie  Lee  Gambrill,  Ph.D. 

Head  of  (he  Department  of  Ptrcbotogy,  New  Jersey  State  Normal  School  at  Trenton 
Formerly  Profeiior  of  Education,  Alfred  College 


TEACHERS  COLLEGE,  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 
CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  EDUCATION.  NO.  121 


Published  by 

Tmthera|(Solkg«,  (Bolumbta  ^nit«rgit|) 

New  York  City 

1922 


Copyrighted,  1922,  by  Bessie  Lee  Gambrill 


McQuiDDY  Pkinting  Company 
Nashville.  Tenn. 


t«i,MEf«s   COLLEGE 
SANTA  ..BBARA.  CA^,,^,, 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

THE  writer  of  this  monograph  wishes  to  express  her  debt  to  the 
many  individuals  whose  wiUingness  to  cooperate  in  this  study 
alone  made  its  accomplishment  possible.  These  individuals  include 
the  presidents  and  registrars  of  the  cooperating  colleges  through  whose 
courtesy  the  scholastic  records  of  the  subjects  were  made  available, 
the  men  and  women  of  the  class  of  1903,  in  the  cooperating  colleges, 
who  furnished  the  statements  of  income  and  other  vocational  data 
used  in  the  study,  Dean  Emerson,  emeritus,  of  Dartmouth,  who  made 
a  rating  of  former  students  on  present  vocational  success  and  the 
several  members  of  the  class  of  1903  who  furnished  the  ratings  of  class- 
mates used  in  Chapter  IV.  Professor  David  Snedden,  of  Teachers 
College,  has  given  stimulating  criticism  in  connection  with  some  of  the 
suggestions  of  Chapter  VIII. 

To  Professor  George  D.  Strayer  and  Professor  E-  L.  Thorndike,  the 
writer  is  especially  grateful  for  encouragement,  guidance,  and  construct- 
ive criticism  throughout  the  entire  investigation. 

B.  L.  G. 


lU 


CONTENTS 

Introduction        vii 

Chap.       I.    The  RbivATionship  Between  College  Rank  and 

Success  in  JvIFE.    The  Problem  Defined  .      .  1 

Chap.     II.    Previous   Studies  of   Success   in  College   in 

Relation  to  Success  in  Life 4 

Chap.    III.    College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income  Twelve 

Years  After  Graduation 19 

Chap.    IV.    Extra-Curricular    Activity    in    Relation    to 

Income 42 

Chap.      V.    Influence  of  the  College  Course  Upon  the 

Vocations  of  College  Graduates     ....  53 

Chap.    VI.    Other  Factors  Having  a  Possible  Bearing  Upon 

Success  in  College  and  Success  in  Vocation        72 

Chap.  VII.    Summary  and  Conclusions 78 

Chap.  VIII.    Some  Problems  of  College  Education  Suggested 

BY  This  Study 87 

RBFBRENCBS       98 


INTRODUCTION 

The  study  presented  in  this  monograph  is  an  attempt  to  discover  the 
relation  between  the  vocational  efficiency  of  college  graduates  as  measur- 
ed by  income  twelve  and  a  half  years  after  graduation  and  undergraduate 
achievement  as  measured  (1)  by  scholarship  and  (2)  by  extra-curricular 
activity  and  success. 

It  was  the  writer's  original  ptupose  to  include  as  a  part  of  this  inves- 
tigation a  measurement  of  the  relation  of  certain  other  factors  to  income : 
(1)  time  of  choosing  the  vocation;  (2)  reasons  for  entering  the  first  occu- 
pation after  graduation;  (3)  change  in  occupation  and  reasons  for 
change;  (4)  self-support  while  in  college;  (5)  amount  and  kind  ot  pro- 
fessional study  after  graduation ;  (6)  time  of  marriage  and  size  of  family. 
Because  of  insuperable  obstacles  inherent  in  the  nature  of  the  available, 
data  this  phase  of  the  investigation  had  to  be  abandoned. 

The  data  gathered  with  reference  to  time  of  choosing  the  life  career 
reasons  for  entering  the  initial  occupation  and  reasons  for  change  are 
presented  in  Chapter  V  in  an  attempt  to  measure  the  influence  of  the 
college  upon  the  determination  of  the  life  careers  of  its  graduates.  The 
facts  in  regard  to  self-support,  graduate  study,  and  marriage  have  been 
summarized  in  Chapter  VI  mainly  for  the  interest  which  attaches  to  the 
occupational  variations  which  the  statistics  reveal.  No  attempt  is  made 
to  measure  the  relation  of  these  factors  to  vocational  success. 

The  initiation  of  the  investigation  was  prompted  by  the  hope  of  con- 
tributing in  some  small  measure  to  the  factual  basis  of  the  movement  for 
the  more  effective  educational  and  vocational  guidance  of  college  stu- 
dents. It  is  the  writer's  hope  that  the  study  may  also  serve  to  focus 
attention  upon  a  number  of  other  problems  of  college  administration. 
These  problems  include  (1)  ways  and  means  of  increasing  student  re- 
spect for  scholarship;  (2)  more  effective  methods  of  measuring  the  raw 
material  which  the  college  matriculates  and  the  finished  product  which 
it  graduates;  (3)  ways  and  means  of  utilizing  more  effectively  the  educa- 
tional posibilities  of  extra-curricular  activities;  (4)  the  urgency  of  a  re- 
examination of  the  aims  and  function  of  the  American  liberal  arts  college. 


vu 


LIBRARY 

■TATE  tEACHEKi,   C^  :   I.FGE 
SANTA  BARBARA.   CA^   ■- o.-NiA 


ii£2Z 


COLLEGE  ACHIEVEMENT  AND  VOCATIONAL 
EFFICIENCY 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN  COIvI.EGE  RANK  AND 
SUCCESS  IN  LIFE.     THE  PROBLEM  DEFINED 

Aside  from  the  sheer  interest  of  the  question,  it  is  a  matter  of  no 
sHght  importance  to  know  whether  or  not  the  attainment  of  high 
grades  in  college  is  prophetic  of  equally  great  achievement  in  life,  i  If 
college  is  a  preparation  for  life,  the  student  who  is  most  successful  in 
measuring  up  to  its  standards  should,  in  the  long  run,  be  the  most 
successful  in  meeting  the  tests  of  lifej  This  thesis  has  been  generally 
accepted  by  college  officials,  who  have  been  greatly  interested  in  prov- 
ing that  a  positive  and  close  relationship  does  exist  between  under- 
graduate standing  and  success  after  graduation.  Indeed,  the  meas- 
urement of  the  relationship  in  question  is  the  one  scientific  way  of 
testing  the  results  ot  college  education. 

The  worth  of  the  measurement  will  depend,  of  course,  upon  the 
validity  of  the  measures  applied  and  on  the  appropriateness  of  the 
method  used.  Care  must  be  taken,  also,  in  interpreting  the  results 
of  such  measurements  and  in  drawing  conclusions  therefrom.  For 
example,  the  establishing  of  a  positive  relationship  will  not  prove, 
necessarily,  as  has  sometimes  been  assumed,  that  the  graduate's  suc- 
cess was  produced  by  the  studies  in  which,  as  an  undergraduate,  he 
achieved  distinction,  and  that  the  college  curriculum  has,  therefore, 
been  acquitted  of  the  indictment  of  impracticality  and  aloofness  from 
the  real  needs  of  life.  Nor  would  it  prove  that  distinguished  alumni 
had  achieved  their  success  because  of  the  hard  study  which  won  the 
high  grades  in  college. '  To  the  writer  it  would  seem  safe  to  assume 
from  a  close,  positive  relationship  between  the  facts  in  question,  lit- 
tle more  than  this:  that  the  methods  of  selection  used  by  the  college 
had  succeeded  in  discovering  and  distinguishing  those  individuals 
who  possessed  the  qualities  which  would  finally  operate  to  distinguish 
them  among  their  fellows  after  graduation — that  the  criteria  of  college 
and  those  of  life  were  identical.  This  identity,  or  lack  of  identity,  of 
measures  between  college  and  life  outside  of  college  is  in  itself  worthy 
of  test,  however. 

'  Note  the  implication  in  the  title  of  Foster's  article  in  Harper's  Magasint, 
Sept.  1916,  "Should  Students  Study?" 


2  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eijlciency 

On  the  other  hand,  a  failure  to  establish  positive  relationship  between 
the  factors  in  question  would  admit  of  several  possible  interpreta- 
tions. * 

In  the  first  place  it  might  indicate  that  the  qualities  essential  to 
success  in  college,  as  now  measured,  were  not  the  same  as  those  es- 
sential to  success  in  life.  This  conclusion,  however,  would  not  neces- 
sarily follow.  It  might  easily  be  true  that  the  lack  of  relationship  was 
due  to  a  failure  on  the  part  of  the  college  to  make  the  course  of  study 
appeal  to  the  student  as  worthy  of  the  effort,  the  result  of  which 
would  really  test  his  ability  to  succeed.  In  other  words  it  might 
mean  that  the  course  of  study  was  either  unrelated  to  life  in 
any  \4tal  way,  or  that  it  was  so  presented  that  this  relationship  was 
not  clear  to  the  student  and  hence,  for  him  at  least,  did  not  exist. 
Until  this  latter  possibility  was  disposed  of,  indeed,  it  would  be  unsafe 
to  assume  the  correctness  of  the  first  interpretation  mentioned  above. 
Still  another  possible  explanation  of  lack  of  relationship  would  have 
to  be  considered.  It  may  easily  be  true  that  the  abilities  tested  by 
success  in  the  college  curriculum  are  the  same  abilities  required  for 
success  in  some  occupations  and  quite  different  from  those  required  for 
success  in  other  occupations.  By  massing  the  data  for  all  occupations 
such  relationship  as  exists  may  be  obscured.  In  order  to  test  this 
last  interpretation,  therefore,  it  would  be  necessary  to  analyze  the 
result  of  oiu"  measurement  if  it  were  negative  by  testing  separately 
the  relationship  in  question  for  graduates  in  different  occupations. 

Apart  from  its  obvious  value  as  a  check  upon  the  results  of  college 
education,  a  knowledge  of  what  relationship  actually  exists  between 
college  achievement  and  life  achievement  could  be  utilized  in  a  number 
of  important  ways.  For  example,  if  college  authorities  could  prove 
to  students  that  the  high  stand  man  has  a  very  much  better  chance 
of  success  in  life  than  has  the  low  stand  man — if  they  could  prove  this 
on  the  basis  of  facts  rather  than  offer  it  as  a  professional  faith — if  the 
success  achieved  in  life  is  of  a  kind  to  stir  the  ambition  and  emulation 
of  undergraduates,  knowledge  of  this  relationship  might  be  expected 
to  increase  student  respect  for  high  rank  as  a  goal  worthy  of  attain- 
ment and  hence  of  effort.  At  present  it  is  a  well  authenticated  tact 
that  imdergraduates  do  not  so  regard  high  academic  rank  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  the  college  has  marked  it  with  the  stamp  of  highest  ap- 
proval. The  desire  for  approval  is  a  powerful  incentive  to  human  en- 
deavor, but  it  is  the  approval  of  one's  peers  that  counts,  and  this  is 

1  Granted  always  that  the  measure  used  is  a  valid  one,  and  the  method  of 
its  application  is  sound. 


Relationship  Between  College  Rank  and  Success  3 

especially  true  in  the  case  of  the  adolescent.  Whether  it  be  true  or 
false,  so  long  as  the  tradition  holds  that  college  life  is  the  thing  and 
that  college  studies  do  not  count,  high  scholastic  honors  will  be  an  in- 
centive of  very  limited  appeal.  In  any  case  the  attainment  ot  the 
mark  itself  is  not,  of  course,  the  goal  to  stress.  But  if  success  in  the 
college  com-se  is  prophetic  ot  Ufe  success,  then  it  is  desirable  that  the 
honors  attached  to  scholastic  achievement  be  valued  by  the  student  as 
are  the  equivalent  honors  in  life  outside  of  college.  If,  however,  there 
is  no  very  close  relationship  between  the  factors  in  question,  or  if  the 
relationship  holds  only  for  certain  occupations  or  when  certain  meas- 
ures of  success  are  applied,  college  authorities  should  be  clear  as  to 
the  facts  when  they  attempt  to  use  the  "success  motive"  as  an  aid  to 
winning  student  respect  for  scholarship. 

The  men  who  employ  college  graduates,  and  those  who  are  charged 
with  the  responsibility  of  recommending  college  graduates  for  positions 
need  to  know  the  extent  to  which  a  student's  marks  are  prophetic  of 
his  later  achievement.  School  superintendents,  as  well  as  business 
men,  tend  very  strongly  to  discount  marks  as  a  basis  oi  selecting  men 
and  women  for  positions.  Are  they  right  or  wrong?  If  they  are 
right,  the  college  needs  to  recognize  this  fact  and  to  give  grave 
thought  to  its  significance.  If  they  are  wrong  the  college  officers 
charged  with  the  placement  of  graduates  should  in  fairness  to  the  high 
grade  students  try  to  convince  the  employing  public  of  its  error.  This 
employing  public  can  not  be  convinced  by  a  reiteration  of  the  beliefs 
of  college  officers.  These  men  demand  proofs,  and  if  the  evidence 
offered  is  to  have  weight  with  them  the  measures  used  for  testing  suc- 
cess must  be  measiues  which  appeal  to  them  as  valid. 

A  number  of  studies  of  the  relation  between  success  in  college  and 
success  in  life  have  been  made.  These  studies  will  be  reviewed  in 
Chapter  II,  as  a  preliminary  to  the  presentation  in  Chapters  III  and 
IV  of  the  writer's  investigation  of  this  question  by  the  application 
of  somewhat  different  tests  of  success  and  the  use  of  a  different  method 
of  measurement. 


CHAPTER  11 

PREVIOUS  STUDIES  OF  SUCCESS  IN  COLLEGE  IN 
RELATION  TO  SUCCESS  IN  LIFE 

Dexter's  study  of  "High  Grade  Men  in  College  and  Out"^  is  "an 
attempt  to  follow  the  subsequent  careers  of  high  grade  men  in  order  to 
determine  their  valuation  by  the  world  at  large  .  .  .  The  high 
grade  man  in  college  has  realized  most  nearly  the  ideals  of  his  Alma 
Mater  ...  it  he  fails  in  life  it  means  that  judged  by  another  criterion — 
that  of  society  in  the  broadest  sense — he  is  not  a  success :  that  the  two 
criteria  are  different,  based  upon  different  ideals,  and  as  a  corollary, 
since  life  is  the  final  test,  that  the  college  ideal  is  not  a  practical  one  and 
that  the  aim  of  higher  academic  education  is  false." 

The  study  includes  the  living  graduates  of  twenty-two  typical  Ameri- 
can colleges  which  have  had  a  chapter  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  for  at  least 
twenty  years  previous  to  1900.  In  the  first  part  of  the  study  member- 
ship in  this  honorary  Greek  letter  society,  which  includes  from  8  per  cent 
to  33  per  cent  of  the  highest  scholars  graduating  in  any  year,  was  used 
as  the  criterion  of  success  in  college.  Mention  in  Who's  Who  was  the 
test  of  success  in  life. 

The  first  method  of  comparison  used  was  to  determine  the  percentage 
of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  men  whose  names  were  included  in  Who's  Who,  then 
the  number  of  graduates  regardless  of  rank  who  attained  this  distinc- 
tion. The  result  of  the  comparison  in  terms  of  percentages  is  given  in 
Table  I. 

The  table  shows  lor  each  college  and  for  the  group  as  a  whole  the 
number  of  living  Phi  Beta  Kappa  graduates;  the  number  of  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  graduates  in  Who's  Who ;  the  percentage  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa's  in 
Who's  Who;  the  percentage  of  living  graduates  in  Who's  Who;  the  per. 
centage  elected  to  Phi  Beta  Kappa  each  year  (weighted  in  terms  of  the 
n  umber  of  living  graduates) ;  the  percentage  of  Who's  Who  men,  grad- 
u  ates  of  these  colleges,  who  were  elected  to  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 

In  interpreting  this  table  Dexter  says,  "In  the  two  columns  d  and  e,  we 
have  the  basis  of  what  seems  to  me  an  important  comparison,  the  first 
representing  the  percentages  of  high  grade  men  who  were  successful 

^Popular  Science  Monthly,  62:424. 


Previous  Studies  of  Success 

TABLE  I 

Comparison  op  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Graduates  and  Rank  and  File  Graduates 
OF   Twenty-Two   Colleges   as   to   Who's    Who   Sucx^ss 
[Dexter] 


Colleges 

Living 

P.  B.  K. 

Grads. 

P.  B.  K. 
Grads. 

in 

Who's 

Who 

%P.B.K. 

Grads. 

Who's 

Who 

%  Liv- 
ing 
Grads. 

Who's 
Who 

%  Elect- 
ed to 
P.  B.  K.  1 

%Who's 

Who 
Elected 

to 
P.  B.  K. 

a 

b 

c 

d 

e 

/ 

g 

Amherst .  .  . 

630 
358 
658 
184 
310 
212 
650 
366 
1110 
135 
140 
175 
135 
185 
190 
285 
225 
360 
375 
140 
435 
864 

29 

36 

22 

4 

21 

11 

38 

9 

139 

2 

3 

1 

3 

2 

6 

5 

12 

23 

21 

5 

33 

56 

4.6 
10.0 
3.3 
2.1 
6.7 
5.2 
5.8 
2.4 
12.5 
1.5 
2.1 
.6 
2.3 
1.1 
3.1 
1.7 
5.3 
6.4 
5.6 
3.6 
7.6 
6.5 

2.6 
2.2 
1.8 
1.7 

.8 
1.6 
2.4 
3.0 
2.7 
2.6 
3.6 
1.1 
3.3 

.8 

.4 
1.6 
4.1 
3.0 
3.4 

.4 
2.8 
2.3 

20 
25 
25 
25 
20 
12 
16 

40.3 

Bowdoin .  .  . 

59.8 

Brown .  

52.4 

Colgate 

57.0 

Columbia 

39.6 

Cornell 

30.0 

Dartmouth 

45.2 

Hamilton 

45.0 

Harvard 

8 
25 
......... 

33 
12 

40.8 

Hobart 

40.0 

Kenyon.    

33.0 

Marietta 

33.0 

Middlebury 

30.0 

N.Y.  City  College- . 
N.  Y.  University 

10.0 
42.0 

Rutgers ... 

25 
33 
25 
25 

83.0 

Trinity.. 

40.0 

Union 

34.3 

Wesleyan  .  

47.7 

Western  Reserve 

45.5 

Williams 

20 
12 

54.1 

Yale 

24.5 

Total 

8122 

481 

Av.  5.9 

Av.  2.1 

Av.15.7 

39.3 

*  Weighted  in  terms  of  number  of  living  graduates  (1432). 

in  life  according  to  our  criterion,  and  the  second  the  percentage  of  good, 

bad  and  indifferent  college  men  who  achieved  success  in  terms  of  the 

same  criterion.    The  averages  at  the  bottom  of  these  columns  are  very 

expressive — 5.9  per  cent  for  the  former  to  2.1  for  the  latter.     If  we  are 

to  accept  these  figures  our  conclusion  must  be  that  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 

man's  chances  of  success  are  nearly  three  times  those  of  his  classmates 

as  a  whole, '  that  the  upper  stratum  of  college  life  is  the  upper  stratum 

*  Jastrow  points  out  (Educational  Review,  31:25,  "Distribution  of  Distinction 
in  American  Colleges")  that  Dexter's  figures  as  to  total  number  of  living  alumni 
are  grossly  inaccurate.  The  figures  were  taken  from  the  New  York  World's  Al- 
manac. They  were  corrected  by  Jastrow  from  actual  alumni  lists  of  the  colleges 
in  question.  Dexter  finds  that  2.8  times  as  many  Phi  Beta  Kappa  men  as  alumni 
in  general  are  found  in  Who's  Who.  Jastrow's  correction  reduces  the  figure  to  1.55. 


6  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eijiciency 

still  when  put  to  the  test,  and  to  borrow  still  further  Irom  the  nomen- 
clature of  the  geologist,  the  cataclysm  of  graduation  does  not  produce  a 
subversion  of  strata." 

As  a  second  measure  of  attainment  in  college  Dexter  secured  the  exact 
class  standing  of  the  graduates  of  two  of  the  larger  New  England  col- 
leges. Inclusion  in  Who's  Who  was  again  used  as  the  measure  of  life 
success.  These  data  not  only  make  it  possible  to  determine  the  per- 
centage of  high  grade  men  included  in  Who's  Who,  but  also  enable  us  to 
see  the  distribution  of  Who's  Who  distinction  through  the  lower  scholar- 
ship ranks  of  the  class.     The  results  are  shown  in  Table  II. 

TABLE  II 
Comparison  of  the  Distribution  of  Who's  Who   Distinction  Through 
Successive  Scholarship  Ranks  of  the  Class 
[Dexter] 


Divisions  of  the  Class 

Percentages  in 

Who's  Who 

First  10th  of  Class ...       . ...     .. 

5.4 

Second  10th  of  Class .       .  . 

2.9 

Third  10th  of  Class 

2.5 

Fourth  10th  of  Class .  .  .  ...  ... 

1.8 

Fifth  10th  of  Class 

1.8 

Last  Half  of  Class  .       .... .       .       .... 

1.9 

Rank  and  File 

2.2 

Again  the  results  are  impressive,  the  1st  10th  of  the  class  having  to  its 
credit  nearly  two  and  one  half  times  as  many  Who's  Who  men  as  the 
r  ank  and  file  of  the  group.  The  percentage  of  distinction  decreases,  too, 
as  we  pass  downward  through  the  deciles  until  we  reach  the  fourth  10th. 
After  that,  however,  there  is  no  decrease.  In  fact,  the  lowest  half  of  the 
class  furnishes  a  slightly  larger  percentage  of  Who's  Who  men  than  do  the 
two  deciles  just  above  the  middle  point  in  scholarship  for  the  class. 
Professor  Dexter  states  that  this  irregularity  with  reference  to  the  per- 
centage of  Who's  Who  men  in  the  lower  half  is  even  more  pronounced 
for  those  who  graduated  practically  at  the  foot  of  the  class.  He  states 
that  his  figures  for  these  men  are  not  sufficiently  accurate  to  form  the 
basis  of  percentages  for  these  tenths  considered  separately.  Professor 
Dexter  is  at  a  loss  for  an  adequate  explanation  of  the  situation  here  re- 
vealed. "I  know  of  no  way  to  account  for  this,"  he  says,  "unless  it  be 
that  those  students  who  were  able  to  keep  a  foothold  among  their  class- 
mates only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  gave  up  all  hope  of  success  in 
those  pursuits  ordinarily  chosen  by  college  graduates,  following  others 
lor   which  they  were  fitted  by  nature  rather  than  by  training,  but  in 


Previous  Studies  of  Success  7 

which  competition  would  be  with  a  weaker  class,  while  those  who  made 
a  moderate  success  of  college  work  continued  in  a  losing  competition 
with  their  classmates."  It  would  be  interesting  and  probably  illumi- 
nating to  know  the  occupational  distribution  of  each  tenth  of  the  group. 
Unfortunately  this  distribution  is  not  available. 

Foster,  in  a  study  of  the  "Relation  Between  College  Studies  and 
Success  in  Life,"  made  in  1910,  uses  the  class  of  1894  of  Harvard  College 
for  his  subjects. '  He  rejects  membership  in  Who's  Who  as  a  measure 
of  life  success  because  it  unduly  weights  certain  occupations  and  because 
"there  is  a  kind  of  life  which  does  not  express  itself  in  offices  or  publica- 
cations  or  advertised  philanthropy  which,  nevertheless,  the  best  men  of 
our  colleges  would  be  glad  to  promote,  if  possible,  by  the  administration 
of  the  curriculum."  For  this  measiu'e  he  substitutes  the  judgment  of 
three  men:  LeBaron  R.  Briggs,  dean  of  Harvard  College  when  these  men 
were  imdergraduates,  Edgar  H,  Wells,  secretary  of  the  Harvard  Alumni 
Association,  and  Frederick  E.  Farrington,  associate  professor  of  educa- 
tional administration  at  Teachers  College,  and  a  member  of  the  class  in 
question.  There  was  no  attempt  by  the  investigator  either  to  define 
success  or  to  specify  methods  or  standards  for  measuring  it.  Presum- 
ably each  judge  made  his  own  definition  of  success.  He  was  simply 
asked  to  "choose  those  men  who  had  achieved  the  kind  of  success  which 
he  would  be  glad  to  have  Harvard  College  promote,  if  possible,  by  the 
administration  of  its  curriculum.  The  only  qualification  was  that  men 
whose  careers  appeared  to  be  greatly  aided  by  social  position  or  heredi- 
tary wealth  should  not  be  included  in  the  successful  group."  Twenty- 
three  men  were  marked  successful  by  two  of  the  three  judges.  The 
report  does  not  oflfer  any  facts  as  to  the  deviations  in  the  judgments  of 
the  three. 

The  exact  academic  records  of  these  twenty- three  "successful"  men 
were  copied,  and  the  number  of  A's,  B's,  C's,  etc.,  was  used  as  the  meas- 
xxre  of  scholastic  success.  As  a  check  group  twenty- three  men  were 
selected  at  random,  the  membership  being  constituted  by  taking 
every  fifth  name  in  alphabetical  order  from  the  lists  of  living  members 
of  the  class  of  1894.  The  exact  academic  records  of  these  twenty- 
three  men  were  also  copied.  The  comparative  results  are  given  in 
Table  III. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  "successful"  group  received  about  three  and 
one-half  times  as  many  higher  grades  as  the  group  chosen  at  random. 
Foster  concludes  that  "contrary  to  the  popular  notion,  success  in  col- 
lege as  indicated  by  marks  attained  in  college  courses  does  give  prom- 
ise  of  success  in  later  life." 

'  Foster:  Administration  of  the  College  Curriculum,  p.  212. 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  E^iency 

TABLE  III 

Comparison  of  the  Scholarship  of  23  Sucx:essful  Men  and  23  Men  Selected 
AT  Random,  Showing  Relative  Rank  in  All  Courses  of  the  Two  Groups 

[Poster]      *' 


Group  A 
"Successful"  Men 

Group  B 
Random  Selection 

A 

196 

180 

156 

33 

11 

8 

A           

56 

183 

247 

75 

16 

8 

1 

B 

B 

C 

D 

E 

C 

D 

E 

Absent - 

Absent 

No  Returns 

No  Returns. 

Total 

584 

Total 

586 

Nicholson  made  a  study  of  "Success  in  College  and  After  Life"^ 
based  upon  the  high  grade  men  of  Wesleyan  University. 
The  purpose  of  the  study  was  to  disprove  the  assertion  so 
often  made  that  the  high  scholar  seldom  achieves  success  in  life.  As 
to  the  definition  of  success  he  says,  "For  the  purposes  of  this  investi- 
gation, success  is  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  in  which  the  world 
generally  uses  it,  too  often  synonymous  with  income.  For  the  purpose 
offthis  study  is  to  disprove  the  assertions  that  the  high  scholar  seldom 
achieves  success  in  life,  and  those  who  are  fond  of  making  such  state- 
ments have  always  in  mind  the  practical  and  not  the  ideal — the  success 
of  position  and  income."  As  a  measure  of  this  success  in  life  he  select- 
ed*mention  in  Who's  Who  or  such  accomplishment  as  would  justify 
such^mention.  Achievement  of  scholastic  honor  was  the  criterion 
offcollege  success.  The  16,067  graduates,  living  and  dead,  were  ar- 
ranged in  three  groups.  The  first  group  comprised  the  oldest  grad- 
uates, from  1833  to  1859,  most  of  whom  were  no  longer  living.  Since 
Who's  Who  is  too  recent  a  publication  to  include  men  from  these  class- 
es,* Nicholson,  assisted  by  certain  of  his  colleagues,  selected  those 
whom  he  judged  to  be  of  Who's  Who  rank,  making  use  of  the  data  as 
to  their  careers  found  in  the  Alumni  Record.  A  second  group  included 
the  classes  from  1860-1889.  The  measm-e  of  their  achievement  was 
actual  mention  in  Who's  Who.  The  third  group  consisted  of  the  mem- 
bers of  ten  recent  classes,  those  of  1890-1899.     Since    the   youngest 

1  School  and  Society,  Aug.  14,  1915. 
*  The  first  edition  appeared  in  1900. 


Previous  Studies  of  Success 


of  these  classes  had  been  out  of  college  only  fifteen  years,  the  Who's 
Who  record  was  supplemented  by  the  judgment  of  contemporaries, 
three  men  from  each  class  being  asked  to  pick  out  the  most  successful 
men  in  their  respective  classes.  As  to  scholastic  record,  each  of  these 
groups  was  divided  into  three  sections:  (1)  honor  men  (the  valedicto- 
rians and  salutatorians  until  1873,  then  by  a  new  system  of  honors, 
from  1  to  7  in  a  class;  from  1874  to  1906,  the  average  was  a  little  over 
three  to  a  class);  (2)  Phi  Beta  Kappa  men  (the  top  third  until  1893, 
after  that  the  upper  fourth  of  a  class);  (3)  plain  degree  men.     The 

TABLE  IV 

Comparison  op  Various  Degrees  op  Scholastic  Honors  With  Who's  Who 

Distinction 
[Nicholson] 


Group  I:  643  Men 
Classes  1833-1859 

Per  Cent  Judged  by  Faculty 
to  be  of  Who's  Who  Rank 

Honor  Men 

53 
167 
476 

50 

P.  B.  K 

Plain  Degree 

31 
6 

Group  II:  604  Men 
Classes  1860-1889 

Per  Cent  Found  in  1914-15 
Edition  of  Who's  Who 

Honor  Men  - .   . . 

59 
185 
419 

48 

P.  B.  K.     - 

31 

Plain   Degree 

10 

Group  III 
Classes  1890-1899 

Per  Cent  in  Who's  Who  or  Judged 
by  Classmates  as  About  to  be 
There 

Honor  Men 

P.  B.  K...       

28 
109 
311 

50 
30 

Plain  Degree 

11 

Total  1667  Alumni 

Per  Cent  of  Who's  Who  Rank 

Honor  Men 

140 

461 

1206 

•      50 

P.  B.  K 

31 

Plain  Degree 

9 

10 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


comparison  of  these  three  degrees  ot  scholastic  attainment  with  refer- 
ence to  achievement  of  success  in  life  as  measured  by  Who's  Who  dis- 
tinction is  presented  in  Table  IV.  The  arrangement  is  essentially  that 
used  by  Hollingworth/ 

On  the  basis  of  these  statistics  he  concludes  that  "we  are  justified 
in  assuming,  that,  for  this  college  at  least,  the  chances  of  distinction 
for  a  high  honor  graduate,  one  of  the  two  or  three  leading  scholars  of 
the  class,  are  just  even.  That  one  out  of  three  of  those  elected  to 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  is  likely  to  achieve  pronounced  success  in  life;  and  that 
each  of  the  remaining  members  in  the  class  has  less  than  one  chance  in 
ten  of  becoming  famous." 

In  the  Harvard  Graduate  Magazine  for  March,  1916,^  Knapp  reports 
an  interesting  study  based  upon  the  latest  Harvard  Quinquennial,  in 
which  is  recorded  the  rank  attained  by  certain  high  grade  students 
His  study  covers  the  Harvard  graduates  from  1851-1900  who  were  liv- 
ing in  1915,  He  considers  only  high  grade  men,  but  compares  the  at- 
tainment of  various  degrees  of  success  in  college  among  this  high  grade 
group,  with  the  chances  of  attaining  success  in  life  as  measured  by 
mention  in  Who's  Who.     His  report  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

TABLE  V 

Comparison  of  Different  Degrees  of  Scholastic  Distinction  with 
Reference  to  Percentage  Gaining  Who's   Who  Mention 

[Knapp] 


Living  Graduates 

No.  Mentioned  in 

1851-1900 

Who's  Who 

30 

22 

308 

138 

221 

94 

865 

173 

1461 

251 

8683 

1305 

Per  Cent 
Mentioned  in 
Who's  Who 


First  Scholars 

First  10  Scholars.. 
Summa  cum  Laude 
Magna  cum  Laude 

Cum  Laude 

Totals 


73.3 

42.5 

41.5 

20. 

17.2 

15. 


He  concludes,  "These  figures  indicate  that  rank  in  college  seems  to 
have  a  relation  to  success  in  later  life,  the  percentage  of  success  being 
in  direct  relation  to  such  rank,  and  that  the  marking  systems  and  ex- 
aminations really  show  something  of  the  merits  of  the  man  and  his 
chances  in  the  future — a  thing  which  we  certainly  doubted  as  undergrad- 
uates and  concerning  which  some  of  us  have  been  skeptical  in  later  life." 
One  other  fact  is  noted  by  this  investigator.     Each  successive  decade  of 

^  Vocational  Psychology,  p.  194. 

'  "The  Man  Who  Led  His  Class  in  College— and  Others." 


Previous  Studies  of  Success  11 

the  half  century  shows  a  smaller  percentage  of  men  who  have  attained 
Who's  Who  success.  This  he  thinks  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  younger 
graduates  have  not  yet  worked  out  their  salvation  and  fully  demon- 
strated their  worth. 

Kunkel's  "Standing  of  Undergraduates  and  Alumni"^  is  based 
upon  a  study  of  the  classes  of  1876-1905,  inclusive,  of  Lafayette  College. 
Judgment  of  classmates  is  used  as  the  criterion  of  high  standing  of 
alumni.  Scholarship  rank  within  one's  class  when  the  class  is  divided 
into  tenths  or  fifths,  is  the  measure  of  undergraduate  standing.  Let- 
ters were  sent  to  ten  men  from  each  class,  asking  them  to  select  the 
five  most  successful  men  in  their  respective  classes.  Each  judge  was 
left  to  define  success  in  his  own  way,  the  only  limitation  being  that  men 
who  had  inherited  wealth  or  position  and  had  done  nothing  with  it 
should  be  excluded.  Three  hundred  letters  were  sent  out,  and  171 
replies  were  received,  but  of  this  number  only  123  gave  the  names  of 
five  successful  classmates.  A  number  showed  hesitancy  in  making  the 
selection  because  they  were  out  of  touch  with  their  classmates,  or  felt 
themselves  incapable  of  judging,  while  a  few  had  scruples  against  a 
supposed  injustice  to  many  worthy  men  who  had  not  become  wealthy 
or  conspicuous.  Thirty  names  of  non-graduates  were  sent,  though  the 
letters  had  asked  for  graduates  only,  and  some  of  the  men  included  had 
incomplete  records.  The  final  group  of  successful  men  studied  includ- 
ed 301  names,  one-fifth  thus  being  rated  as  most  successful  out  of  a 
total  of  1,593  alumni.  In  the  tables  following,  the  results  of  the  com- 
parison between  highest  of  undergraduates  and  alumni  are  summarized. 

The  tables  show  that  the  first  tenth  or  the  first  fifth  of  the  class  in 
scholastic  rank  is  more  likely  to  be  judged  successful  than  are  the  suc- 
cessive tenths  or  the  fifths  below  the  first,  but  that  among  the  lower 
ranks  the  percentages  judged  successful  fluctuate,  with  a  decided  ten- 
dency to  increase  in  the  lowest  fifth  of  the  class. 

In  respect  to  this  last  tendency,  Kunkel  says,  "  The  frequency  with 
which  successful  men  are  found  in  the  last  fifth  of  the  class — seems  to 
afford  some  slight  basis  for  the  tradition  •  •  •  that  the  low-stand  men 
in  college  rank  high  in  life.  I  suspect,  however,  that  this  excess  of 
men  in  the  lowest  fifth  of  the  class  is  due  to  the  more  or  less  unconscious 
defenders  of  the  low-stand  men.  At  least  one  alumnus  in  reply  to  the 
letter  stated  in  so  many  words  that  he  had  called  successful  one  man 
who  had  done  poorly  in  college  because  he  had  so  far  siupassed  the 
promise  of  his  college  record." 

»  School  and  Society,  May  12,  1917. 


12 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


TABLE  VI 


Percentage  of  "Successful"  Men  in  Successive  Tenths  of  Class,  Rank 
IN  Class  Being  Reduced  to  Percentage  Basis 

[Kunkel] 


Basis  of  Success 

No. 
of  Men 

Tenths  of  Class 

Judgment 

1st 

2nd 

3rd 

4th 

5  th 

6th 

7th 

8th 

9th 

10th 

One  or  More 

Classmates 

301 

150 

89 

20.5 
26.0 
91    ? 

11.2 
10.4 
11   ^ 

9.0 
12.0 
11   ? 

11.2 

10.0 

9  9 

9.3 
8.0 
6  ? 

10.2 
8.0 
9  0 

7.0 
5.3 
S  6 

7.3 
3.3 
3  4 

7.3 

7.3 

11   ? 

7  0 

Two  or  More 

Classmates .. 

9  3 

All  or  All  but  One 
Classmate         

9  9 

TABLE  VII 

P*Ercentage  of  "Successful"  Men  in  Successive  Fifths  of  Class,  Rank 
IN  Class  Being  Reduced  to  Percentage  Basis 

[Kunkel] 


No. 
of  Men 

Fifths  of  Class 

Basis  of  Success 
Judgment 

1st 

2nd 

3rd 

4th 

5  th 

One  or  More 

Classmates 

Two  or  More 

Classmates 

All  or  All  but  One 
Classmate 

301 

150 

89 

31.7 
36.4 
32.4 

20.2 
22.0 
21.1 

19.5 
16.0 
15.2 

14.3 
8.6 
9.0 

14.3 
16.6 
21.1 

As  a  further  means  of  throwing  light  on  this  inconsistency  in  the 
results,  Kunkel  made  an  analysis  of  the  "successful"  group  which  to 
the  mind  of  the  present  writer  is  very  important.  The  group  was  first 
analyzed  as  to  the  occupation  of  its  members,  and  then  the  scholastic 
distribution  of  each  occupational  group  was  determined.  As  to  oc- 
cupation the  group  was  distributed  as  follows:  lawyers,  65;  teachers, 
55;  business  men,  50;  engineers,  42;  ministers,  40;  physicians,  29; 
journalists,   11;  scientific  workers,   10. 

The  scholarship  distribution  is  given  for  teachers  and  business  men 
only  in  Table  VIII. 


Previous  Studies  of  Success 


13 


TABLE  VIII 

Percentage  of  Teachers  and  Business  Men  in  Successive  Fifths  of  the 
Class  According  to  Scholarship 
[Kunkel] 


Group 

1st 

2nd 

3rd 

4th 

5th 

Teaching 

62 
16 

20 
18 

5.5 
22.0 

9.1 
22.0 

3.6 

Business -  . 

22.0 

The  distribution  of  successful  teachers,  he  says,  conforms  most  close- 
ly to  expectations;  that  is,  that  the  numbers  of  successful  men  will  de- 
crease as  one  passes  from  the  head  to  the  foot  of  the  class.  The  business 
group,  on  the  other  hand,  "formed  the  only  group  in  which  there  ap- 
peared to  be  an  inverse  ratio  between  class  stand  and  alumni  success 

.  ,  .  This  group  affords  the  only  basis  for  the  belief  which  has 
been  mentioned."  He  expresses  the  belief  that  "the  large  number  of 
men  at  the  foot  of  the  class  who  go  into  business  do  so  because  they 
recognize  that  the  learned  professions  are  closed  to  them  largely  be- 
cause of  their  scholarship  failure."  This,  he  believes,  is  one  explana- 
tion for  the  large  percentage  of  low-stand  men  who  prove  successful 
in  business.  As  a  further  explanation,  he  suggests  that  success  in 
business  depends  somewhat  upon  geniality  and  affability,  which  he 
believes  lead  all  too  frequently  to  the  undoing  of  a  student's  college 
career. 

He  concludes  that,  "While  a  high  stand  does  not  carry  with  it  any 
sound  guarantee  of  success  in  after  life,  on  the  average,  it  is  wise  to 
attain  that  rank.  Except  in  a  business  career,  the  poor  students  ap- 
parently have  a  generally  smaller  chance  of  success  than  the  leaders 
in  the  classroom." 

"College  Grades  and  Success  in  Life" '  is  the  topic  of  a  report  by 
Louis  Bevier  based  upon  a  study  of  44  classes  of  Rutgers  College 
graduated  between  1862  and  1905,  covering  in  all  1326  graduates.  The 
test  of  success  used  is  the  judgment  of  four  men,  "who  have  the  most 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  body  of  alumni  and  no  detailed  knowledge 
of  their  undergraduate  scholarship  standards."  Each  of  these  four 
men  was  asked  to  pick  from  the  entire  alumni  body  about  30  men,  who 
had  in  their  judgment  achieved  real  eminence,  and  a  second  group  of 
from  2.50  to  300  men,  roughly  one-fifth  of  the  entire  number,  who  had 

>  Educational  Review,  Nov.  1917. 


14 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


been  highly  successful.  This  gives  two  lists  representing  two  degrees 
of  success.  Class  rank  is  used  as  the  measure  of  college  success.  The 
first  comparison  made  is  of  the  percentages  of  first  honor,  second  hon- 
or, and  third  honor  men  found  in  the  groups  of  eminence  and  of  high 
success,  respectively.  The  percentage  is  found  by  dividing  the  total 
number  of  men  who  form  the  group  by  the  number  from  this  group  who 
found  a  place  in  the  list.  The  letters  A,  B,  C,  D,  in  the  tables  below 
designate  the  lists  of  each  of  the  four  judges.  ABCD^  refers  to 
a  composite  list  made  up  of  all  names  mentioned  by  two  or  more  of  the 
judges.  ABCD^  is  a  composite  list  including  all  names  mentioned 
in  any  list.     Tables  IX  and  X  present  the  first  comparison. 

TABLES  IX  AND  X 

Comparison  op  Percentage  ot  Honor  Men  Pound  in  Groups  oif  Eminent 

AND    Successful    Men    RESPEcnvELY 
[Bevier] 

Eminent  Men 


A 

32 

B 

33 

C 

32 

D 

28 

ABCDi 
36 

ABCD2 

54 

First  Honor 

Second  Honor.. 
Third  Honor... 

20.5 
9.1 
4.5 

25.0 
9.1 
4.5 

18.2 
4.6 
6.8 

22.7 
6.8 
2.3 

25.0 

11.4 

4.3 

27.3 

13.6 

6.8 

SuccEssFui.  Men 

A 

306 

B 

286 

C 

266 

D 

303 

ABCDi 
316 

ABCD2 

480 

First  Honor 

Second  Honor. . 
Third  Honor... 

52.3 
47.7 
27.3 

52.3 
40.9 
18.2 

54.5 
40.9 
20.5 

52.3 
40.9 
27.3 

52.3 
47.7 
25.0 

65.9 
59.0 
40.9 

The  percentages  in  these  tables  show  that  more  than  one-fifth  of 
the  men  who  graduated  with  first  honors  are  found  among  the  small 
number  of  men  who  are  rated  as  eminent,  and  more  than  half  among 
those  who  are  rated  as  highly  successful.  The  second  honor  men  seem 
to  stand  only  a  little  more  than  half  as  good  a  chance  for  attaining 
eminence  as  the  first  honor  men.  Their  relative  chances  for  "life 
success"  are  a  little  better,  48  per  cent  (approximately)  of  the  second 
honor  men  attaining  this  rating  as  compared  with  52  per  cent  of  the 
first  honor  men  so  rated.  The  third  honor  men  seem  to  have  a  still 
smaller  chance  for  either  eminence  or  high  success. 


Previous  Studies  of  Success 


15 


Several  other  tables  are  presented.  The  next  pair  show  the  percent- 
age of  eminent  men  and  the  percentage  of  successful  men  in  the  first 
sixth,  fifth,  fourth  and  third  of  the  class  ranked  according  to  scholarship. 
Giving  the   comparison  for  the   composite  group   ABCD^  only,  the 

results  are : 

TABLE  XI 

Percentage  op  Eminent  Men  and  Successful  Men  (ABCD  *  Group  only) 

IN  First  Sixth,  Fifth,  Fourth  and  Third  of  Class  Ranked 

According  to  Scholarship 

[Bevier] 


Eminent  Men 

Successful  Men 

First  6th .  . 

7.7 
6.8 
6.0 

5.4 

35.3 

First  5th . 

35.4 

First  4th 

34.3 

First  3rd 

32.1 

This  indicates  that  at  the  top  of  the  class  in  scholarship,  the  smaller 
the  division  considered,  the  larger  the  percentage  of  eminent  men  it 
contains.  The  same  tendency  holds  for  the  "successful"  group,  but 
the  size  of  the  increase  with  the  narrowing  of  the  section  is  much  smaller 
in  amount. 

The  next  comparison  considers  the  relative  number  of  eminent  and 
successful  men  found  in  each  fourth  or  third  of  the  class  as  a  whole. 
In  the  table  that  follows,  this  distribution  is  shown  for  the  4ths  of 
the  class,  using  again  only  the  percentages  for  the  composite  group 
ABCD\ 


TABLE  XII 

Percentage  op  Eminent  and  Successful  Men  Found  in  Each  Fourth  and 
TmRD  OF  Class  as  a  Whole 
[Bevier] 


"^ 


Eminent  Men 

Successful  Men 

First  4th .. 

6.0 
3.0 
1.5 
0.3 

34.3 

Second  4th 

24.7 

Third  4th 

20.5 

Fourth  4th 

15.4 

^ 


Again  the  figures  are  consistent,  the  percentages  regularly  decreas- 
ing from  the  first  to  the  foiuth  quarter  of  the  class,  the  decrease  being 
more  rapid  in  the  small  lists  of  eminent  men  and  less  marked  in  the 
larger  hsts  of  highly  successful  men. 

These  comparisons  seem  to  justify  Bevier's  conclusion  that  "under- 
graduate scholarship  has  a  very  important  relation  to  future  successi 


16 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


not  necessarily  in  regard  to  an  individual,  but  unmistakably  when  the 
whole  membership  of  classes  is  considered." 

While  the  investigation  reported  in  this  monograph  is  concerned 
with  the  relation  between  the  undergraduate  academic  success  of 
the  baccalaureate  graduate  and  his  later  vocational  achievement,  it 
seems  worth  while  as  a  matter  of  interest  to  review  briefly  the  available 
studies  of  the  relation  between  scholastic  success  in  the  professional 
school  and  later  professional  success. 

Dr.  D.  E.  Rice,  of  Pratt  Institute,  made  a  comparison  between  the 
marks  achieved  in  com*ses  in  Mechanical  Engineering  and  Electrical 
Engineering  and  the  salaries  the  men  were  receiving  four  to  six  years 
after  graduation.*  The  men  were  ranked (1)  on  the  basis  of  marks  re- 
ceived in  the  eight  subjects  studied  and  (2)  on  the  basis  of  the  salaries 
they  were  receiving  at  the  time  the  investigation  was  made.  Correla- 
tions were  made  for  each  class  separately  in  order  to  make  the  salaries 
comparable.  The  following  table  shows  the  coefficients  or  correlation 
calculated  by  two  methods. 

TABLE  XIII 

Showing  the   Correlation  Between  School  Standing  and   Salaries 
Earned  in  Later  Life 
[Rice] 


Class  and  Year 

Cases 

Correlation  by 
Pearson  Method 

Correlation  by  Per  Cent 
of  Unlike  Signed  Pairs 

r 

P.  E. 

r 

P.  E. 

Mechanical '07 

Mechanical '08 

Mechanical '09 

Electrical '07 

Electrical '08 

Electrical '09 

35 
41 
39 
26 
36 
41 

.36 
.25 
.21 
.16 
.46 
.16 

.08 
.09 
.09 
.13 
.08 
.10 

.22 
.34 
.06 
.25 
.51 
.28 

.09 
.08 
.10 
.12 
.08 
.09 

Averages 

.267 

.277 

The  coefficients  here  presented  are  all  positive  but  small  in  size 
denoting  a  general  but  not  marked  tendency  toward  agreement  be- 
tween the  degree  of  success  achieved  in  the  technical  school  course, 
and  the  relative  financial  rewards  in  salary  foiu-  to  six  years  after  grad- 
uation. 

1  Reported  by  HoUingworth,  Vocational  Psychology,  pp.  195-99.  It  should  be 
noted  that  these  courses  are  not  really  engineering  courses.  They  offer,  according 
to  Rice  (Scientific  American,  Aug.  9,  1913),  technical  and  practical  training  in- 
tended to  prepare  young  men  for  positions  of  responsibility  above  the  grade  of 
skilled  mechanic  in  mechanical,  electrical  and  chemical  manufacturing  and 
industrial  plants. 


Previous  Studies  of  Success 


17 


Dr.  George  E.  Payne/  president  of  Harris  Teachers  College,  St. 
Louis,  made  a  study  of  the  relation  between  the  scholastic  records  in 
professional  subjects  of  graduates  of  the  college  and  ratings  given  them 
by  principals  in  the  public  schools.  The  teachers  were  rated  for  man- 
agement of  children,  instruction  and  attention  to  details.  Markings 
were  given  on  the  service  as  temporary  substitutes,  permanent  sub- 
stitutes, and  appointed  teachers.  Table  XIV  shows  for  appointed 
teachers  the  percentage  of  excellent,  good,  medium  and  unsatisfactory 
ratings  given  for  each  third  of  the  class  from  highest  to  lowest.  Half 
of  the  group  had  taught  one  term  and  the  other  half  two  terms. 

TABLE  XIV 

Percentage  op  Grades  Given  by  PRiNcn»ALS  to  Graduates  op  Harris 
Teachers   College  in  Their  First  Year  op  TEAcmNG 
[Payne] 


Management 

Instruction 

Attention  to  Details 

E 

G 

M 

U 

E 

G 

M 

U 

E 

G 

M 

U 

Highest  Third.. 
Middle  Third... 
Lowest  Third 

39.1 
40.5 
39.5 

46.7 
58.1 
57.9 

12.0 
1.4 
2.6 

2.2 
0.0 
0.0 

39.9 
27.0 
17.1 

50.2 
71.6 
80.3 

9.5 
1.4 
2.6 

.4 
.0 
.0 

69.8 
79.9 
78.6 

28.2 
17.6 
20.0 

2.0 
3.5 
1.4 

.0 
.0 
.0 

E — Excellent    G — Good    M — Medium    U — Unsatisfactory 


Payne  concludes  that  there  is  a  decided  relationship  between  success 
in  the  professional  school  and  success  in  teaching.  He  notes,  however, 
the  more  marked  relation  between  success  in  instruction  and  scholarship 
than  between  the  latter  and  either  the  management  of  children  or  atten- 
tion to  details.  He  explains  this  as  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  there  is 
no  instruction  given  by  the  college  in  those  subjects  and  in  part  to  the 
fact  that  the  young  teacher  faced  with  numerous  unfamiliar  situations, 
naturally  stresses  the  thing  she  can  do  best,  and  that  is  instruction. 

Professor  Raymond  Walters,  of  Lehigh  University,  reports  a  recent 
study  of  the  scholastic  standing  upon  graduation  of  392  eminent  engi- 
neers. '  The  study  was  made  through  the  cooperation  of  the  registrars 
of  seventy-five  colleges,  technical  schools  and  imiversities.  The  bases 
of  eminence  rating  were  (a)  holding  of  office  or  (6)  membership  in  stand- 
ing committees  or  (c)  service  as  representative  of  the  four  "founder" 
engineer  societies  during  the  years  1915-1919.  The  societies  were,  The 
American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers,  The  American  Society  of  Mechani- 

1  "Scholarship  and  Success  in  Teaching,"  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology, 
April,  1918. 

*  "The  Scholastic  Training  of  Eminent  American  Engineers,"  School  and 
Society,  March  12,  1921. 


18  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

cal  Engineers,  The  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  and  The 
American  Institute  of  Mining  and  Metallurgical  Engineers.  The  bases 
used  tend  to  emphasize  scientific  and  ethical  aspects,  as  the  officials  and 
representatives  are  chosen  for  outstanding  worth. 

By  comparing  the  percentages  of  these  eminent  engineers  in  fifths  of 
their  respective  classes  upon  graduation,  it  was  shown  that  (1)  nearly 
one-half  of  them  were  in  the  highest  fifth  of  their  class;  (2)  nearly  three- 
fourths  were  in  the  highest  two-fifths  of  their  college  classes;  only  one 
out  of  twenty-five  was  in  the  lowest  fifth  of  his  class  scholastically. 


CHAPTER  III 

COLLEGE  MARKS  AS  RELATED  TO  INCOME  TWELVE 
YEARS  AFTER  GRADUATION 

The  investigation  reported  in  this  chapter  uses  as  a  test  of  vocational 
success,  income  twelve  years  after  graduation.  As  a  test  of  academic 
achievement  it  uses  the  complete  academic  record  of  each  individual 
included  in  the  study.  It  is  based  upon  a  single  class,  1903,  men  and 
women,  academic  graduates  of  eleven  colleges.  The  method  used  is 
that  statistically  known  as  correlation.  The  data  were  gathered  in  the 
fall  and  winter  of  1915-16,  before  the  World  War  had  begun  to  influence 
to  any  appreciable  degree  the  vocational  status  of  the  men  and  women 
who  are  the  subjects. 

The  subjects  are  the  baccalaureate  graduates  of  the  class  of  1903  in 
Bowdoin  College,  Brown  University  (men  only),  Dartmouth  College, 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  Barnard  College,  Goucher  College,  Mt.  Hol- 
yoke  College,  Smith  College,  Oberlin  College  and  the  undergraduate 
schools  of  the  University  of  Illinois  and  the  University  of  Missom^i.  It 
will  be  noted  that  the  list  of  colleges  includes  four  men's  colleges,  four 
women's  colleges,  one  privately  endowed  co-educational  college  and  the 
undergraduate  schools  of  two  middlewestem  universities. 

The  chief  considerations  influencing  the  selection  of  the  institutions, 
beyond  the  requirement  that  they  be  of  unquestioned  standing  as  col- 
leges, were  willingness  of  the  college  authorities  to  cooperate  in  the  study 
and  the  nature  of  the  data  contained  in  alumni  bulletins. 

A  single  class  throughout  the  eleven  colleges  was  made  the  basis  of 
study  in  order  to  furnish  a  group  which  had  been  out  of  college  for  the 
same  length  of  time  and  had  been  subjected  to  the  same  general  econom- 
ic conditions.  The  class  of  1903  was  chosen  as  furnishing  a  group  whose 
members  had  been  out  of  college  long  enough  to  find  themselves  voca- 
tionally, yet  not  long  enough  to  render  the  conclusions  drawn  from 
their  experience  wholly  inapplicable  to  the  present  college  generation. 
The  living  members  of  this  class  furnished  a  total  of  1153  names,  563 
men  and  590  women. 

The  chief  data  used  and  their  sources  were:  (1)  Occupational  records 
found  in  alumni  catalogs ;  (2)  present  incomes  obtained  by  questionnaire 
from  members  of  the  class  of  1903  in  the  eleven  cooperating  colleges; 
(3)  judgments  of  classmates  as  to  life  success  of  their  fellows;'  (4) 

1  Used  in  Chapter  IV. 

19 


20 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


complete  academic  records  for  this  class  transcribed  from  the  college 
records  under  the  supervision  of  the  registrars. 

This  investigation  is  concerned  with  baccalaureate  graduates  only. 
In  certain  colleges,  however,  there  was  no  distinction  made  in  the  alumni 
lists  between  the  straight  baccalaureate  graduate,  the  semi-professional 
graduate  (B.  S.  in  engineering,  agriculture,  architecture,  chemistry,  etc.) 
and  the  professional  graduate  (ly.  L.  B.  or  B.  L.  S.).  So  it  came  about 
that  the  responses  to  the  questionnaire  and  the  scholarship  records  includ- 
ed a  number  of  these  professional  and  semi-professional  graduates.  The 
records  of  these  individuals  have  been  kept  separate  from  those  of  the 
baccalaureates  and  were  not  used  in  the  measurements  to  be  reported. 


OCCUPATIONAL  AND  INCOME  STATISTICS 

Table  XV  presents  the  occupational  distribution  of  the  men  of  the 
class  of  1903  in  the  cooperating  colleges,  and  shows  the  percentage  of 
each  occupational  group  who  sent  replies  to  the  questionnaire.  These 
percentages  of  replies  serve  as  some  index  of  the  interest  of  the  group  as 
a  whole  and  of  the  differences  in  interest  among  the  various  occupational 

TABLE  XV 

Occupational  Distribution,  Class  op  1903  (Men),  Showing  Percentages 

OF  Each  Occupation  Answering  the  Questionnaire 


Bac. 
Grad. 


Prof. 
Grad. 


Semi- 
Prof. 
Grad. 


Total 


Bac. 
Reply- 
ing 


Prof. 
Reply- 
ing 


Semi- 
Prof. 
Reply- 
ing 


Total 
Reply- 
ing 


Per- 
centage 
Reply- 
ing 


Business 

Teaching 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineer  in  g 

Ministry 

Other  Occupations - 
Unknown 


149 
83 
66 
54 
39 
21 
44 
11 


20 


42 


14 
1 


166 

85 
86 
54 
81 
21 
58 
12 


63 
65 
41 
32 
21 
13 
22 


32 


77 
65 
47 
32 
53 
13 
27 


46.4 
76.5 
54.7 
59.3 
65.4 
61.9 
46.5 


Totals I  467  |  28  |  68 


563 


257 


14  I  43  I  314  I  55.8 


groups  in  the  question  of  relationship  between  college  activities  and 
vocational  achievement.  They  represent  rather  less  than  the  real  per- 
centage of  interest,  however,  as  the  base  used  in  calculating  the  percent- 
ages is  the  total  number  of  individuals  in  each  group,  which  includes 
those  who  were  not  reached  by  the  questionnaire  either  because  they 
were  abroad  or  because  their  correct  addresses  were  not  available. 

The  group  yields  467  baccalaureate  graduates,  28  graduates  with 
professional  degrees  (27  I/.I/.B.  and  1  B.L.S.);  and  68  with  semi- 
professional  degrees  (B.S.  in  M.E.,  B.B.,  C.E.,  Ag.,  Ch.,  Arch.).    The 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income  21 

occupational  distribution  of  the  baccalatueate  group  shows  that  149  of 
the  467  men  or  31.9  per  cent  are  in  business,  83  or  17.8  per  cent  are 
teachers;  66  or  14.1  per  cent  are  lawyers;  54  or  11.  6  per  cent  are  physi- 
cians; 39  or  8.4  per  cent  are  engineers;  21  or  4.5  per  cent  are  ministers; 
44  or  9.4  per  cent  in  other  occupations  (joiunalism,  forestry,  chemistry, 
farming,  social  work,  dentistry,  public  service,  architecture,  pharmacy, 
scientific  work,  library,  music,  dramatic  reading,  in  the  order  listed,  one 
to  eight  in  a  given  occupation).  The  occupations  of  1 1  men,  2.3  per  cent 
of  the  group,  are  tmknown. 

With  reference  to  replies  to  the  questionnaire,  the  table  shows  that 
nearly  56  per  cent  of  the  group  as  a  whole  (55  per  cent  of  the  baccalaure- 
ate group)  indicated  their  interest  by  responding  with  a  part  or  all  of  the 
information  requested.  The  highest  percentage  of  replies,  76.5  per  cent, 
came  from  the  teachers.  Replies  from  the  other  occupational  groups 
came  in  the  following  order:  engineers  65.4  per  cent;  ministers  61.9  per 
cent;  doctors  59.3  per  cent;  lawyers  54.7  per  cent;  business  men  46.4  per 
cent.  Of  the  unclassified  group,  46.5  per  cent  replied.  The  outstand- 
ing fact  here  is  the  very  high  percentage  of  replies  from  teachers,  the 
high  percentage  for  professional  groups  in  general  as  compared  with  the 
considerably  lower  percentage  of  replies  from  the  business  group.  Apart 
from  their  possible  use  as  an  index  of  interest  in  this  investigation,  these 
percentages  offer  one  basis  for  estimating  the  reliability  of  the  results 
of  this  study. 

Table  XVI  gives  the  occupational  distribution  of  the  women  of  the 
class  of  1903  in  the  cooperating  colleges. 

There  are  556  living  baccalaurate  graduates,  34  professional  graduates 
(32  B.L.S.  and  2  I^.I^.B.) — 590  in  all.  Of  the  baccalaurate  group,  285 
or  51.2  per  cent  are  married;  213  or  38.3  per  cent  are  engaged  in  paid 
occupations;  53  or  9.5  per  cent  have  no  recorded  occupation.  A  number 
of  the  group  with  no  present  occupation  have  been  employed  at  different 
times  since  graduation  for  periods  of  varying  lengths.  Undoubtedly 
some  members  of  this  group  would,  if  specifically  asked,  report  them- 
selves with  some  volunteer  or  unpaid  occupation,  either  "helping  at 
home"  or  social  work,  as  did  three  of  those  to  whom  question  blanks 
were  sent  by  mistake. 


22 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


TABLE  XVI 
OccuPATioNAi,  Distribution,  Class  op  1903  (Women) 


Occupation 

Baccalaureate 

Professional 

Totals 

Paid  Occupations 
Teaching 

144 

19 

21 

10 

1 

2 

1 

3 

5 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

144 

Business 

19 

Soc.  and  Relig 

21 

Librarian 

Law 

21 

31 
1 

Medicine 

2 

Osteopathy ._ 

1 

Nursing 

3 

Journalism. 

5 

Craft  Jewelry 

1 

Science 

1 

Farming..     .. 

1 

Paid  Homekeeping 

3 

Interior  Decorating. 

1 

Totals 

213 

21 

234 

Unpaid  Occupations 

Marriage .... 

Volunteer  Social  Ser- 
vice  and   Unpaid 

Homekeeping 

Students 


285 
3 
2 


296 

3 
2 


Totals 

290 

11 

301 

No  Recorded 
Occupations 

53 

2 

55 

Total  Women 
Graduates 

556 

34 

590 

Of  the  213  baccalaureate  graduates  engaged  in  paid  occupations,  144 
or  67.6  per  cent  are  teachers,  21  or  9.8  per  cent  are  in  social  and  reli- 
gious work;  19  or  8.9  per  cent  are  in  business  (mostly  secretaries  or 
stenographers);  and  10  or  4.7  per  cent  are  librarians.  The  number  in 
each  of  the  other  recorded  occupations  is  too  small  for  separate  treat- 
ment. Of  the  34  women  who  took  professional  degrees  (32  B.I/.S.  and 
2  I/.L.B.)  11  or  approximately  30  per  cent  are  married;  and  21  or  ap- 
proximately 60  per  cent  are  librarians.  Replies  were  received  from  136 
or  47.7  per  cent  of  the  married  baccalaureate  graduates,  and  from  150  or 
70.4  per  cent  of  the  213  engaged  in  paid  occupations. 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income 


23 


TABLE  XVII 

Income  Distribution  op  Larger  Occupational  Groups  12  J  Years  Apter 

Graduation 


Men 

Women 

Income 

Teach- 
ing 

Business 

Law 

Medi- 
cine 

Engi- 
neering 

Minis- 
try 

Teach- 
ing 

Business 

$500-  750 

7 
11 

t28 
17 

tl2 
7 
6 
1 

2 
2 
1 

t3 
2 

760-  889 

900-1150 

1 
3 
3 

tl2 
8 
9 
10 
t7 
3 
1 
3 

• 

3 
3 
2 
2 
4 
t3 

...... 

2 
1 
1 

..... 

2 

1 
t6 

1 
t4 

1 

t3 
t2 

3 

1160-1350  

t2 
1 

1360-1550  ...     

1560-1750                    

1760-1950  .       

2 

t4 

1 
2 

11 
2 
1 
1 
4 
2 
1 
1 

1960-2150  -     

2160-2350       

2360-2550 

2560-2750       

7 
5 
1 
8 
2 
1 
3 
1 
2 

1 
...... 

3 
2 

3  ■ 
.... 

3 

tl 
2 

2760-2950-.     

2960-3150 ---   - 

1 

3160-3350  

3360-3550  

2 

1 

2 

1 

3560-3750  

3760-3950                    

1 

1 

3960-4150       

4160-4350  

4360-4550     

1 

1 

t2 

2 

1 

1 

4560-4750     

4760-4950... .. 

1 

4960-5150..   ..- 

1 

t2 

5160-5350 

5360-5550          

1 

5560-5750       

5760-5950        

1 

5960-6150            

2 

5 

6160-6350        

2 

6360-6550 

6560-6750.. 

6760-6950 

6960-7150... 

1 

7160-7350. 

7360-7550 

1 
1 

1 

7560-7750 

7760-7950 

7960-9900 

10,000-11,000 

1^- 

2 
2 

1 

1 

1 

11,000-12,000 

12,000-13,000 

1 

13,000-14,000  

14,000-15,000  

1 

15,000-16,000  

16,000-17,000. 

1 
1 

17,000-18,000  

Total  Frequencies 

Median  Income 

65 

$2000 

67 
$3000 

34 
$3275 

30 
$3050 

20 

$2150 

13 

$1932 

95 
$1200 

12 

$950 

tlndicote*  the  limits  of  the  middle  50  per  cent  for  each  occupation. 


24  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

The  same  form  of  occupational  questionnaire  was  sent  to  the  unmarried 
women  engaged  in  paid  occupations  as  was  sent  to  the  men.  Since 
income  is  used  in  this  study  as  a  measure  of  vocational  attainment 
this  group  is  the  only  one  whose  records  furnish  data  for  inclusion  in  the 
particular  measurement  to  be  reported  in  this  chapter.  A  different 
questionnaire  was  sent,  however,  to  the  married  group  in  the  hope  of 
obtaining  data  which  might  contribute  toward  the  development  of 
some  measure  of  success  in  what  is  commonly  designated  as  "home  mak- 
ing. ' ' '  Statistics  of  replies  to  this  questionnaire  are  included  in  the  sum- 
mary of  replies  given  below.  Questionnaires  were  not  sent  to  those 
women  listed  in  the  alumni  catalogues  as  having  no  occupation.  In  a 
few  cases  because  of  errors  in  the  alumni  lists  question  blanks  reached 
women  who  were  neither  married  nor  engaged  in  paid  occupations. 
Replies  were  received  from  136  or  47.7  per  cent  of  the  married  bac- 
calaureate graduates  and  from  150  or  70.4  per  cent  of  the  213  women 
engaged  in  paid  occupations. 

The  income  distributions  for  each  of  the  larger  vocational  groups, 
men  and  women,  are  presented  in  Table  XVII.  These  figures  were  ob- 
tained from  the  questionnaire  blanks  of  baccalaureate  graduates  in 
response  to  the  question: 

"For  the  past  year  what  was  your  income  from  all 
sources  (exclusive  of  inheritance  and  income  from 
inheritance)  ?" 

METHOD    OF   MEASUREMENT    USED 

The  method  used  in  the  measurement  of  the  relation  between  under- 
graduate marks  and  income  twelve  years  after  graduation  is  the  method 
statistically  known  as  correlation.  This  method  is  based  upon  the  as- 
smnption  that  the  most  probable  measure  of  relationship  between  two 
factors  takes  account  as  fully  as  possible  of  the  varying  amounts  of  each 
factor  considered.  It  differs  markedly  from  what  Thorndike  calls  the 
"all  or  none"  method  which  disregards  the  amounts  or  degrees  of  the 
factors  to  be  measured.  The  all  or  none  treatment  would  either  include 
or  exclude  a  man  from  the  group  "successful  men"  or  "high  scholarship 
men."     It  is  illustrated  in  most  of  the  studies  reported  in  Chapter  II. 

But  success,  however  defined,  is  a  relative  matter  and  exists  in  vary- 
ing amounts.  The  method  of  correlation  arrives  at  its  results  by  a 
comparison  of  each  amoimt  of  the  first  factor  with  the  amount  of  the 

1  The  attempt  to  devise  such  a  measure  was  abandoned  so  far  as  this  par- 
ticular investigation  is  concerned.  The  data  collected  concerning  the  activities 
of  the  married  women  will  probably  be  used  in  a  later  study  dealing  with  that 
group  specifically. 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income  25 

second  factor  which  accompanies  it.  That  is,  in  the  case  of  our  problem, 
each  of  the  varying  amounts  of  undergraduate  scholastic  attainment 
achieved  by  the  members  of  the  group  studied  is  compared  with  the 
amount  of  income  of  the  same  individual  in  later  life.  These  paired 
values  for  each  individual,  namely,  rank  or  grade  in  scholarship  and  rank 
or  number  of  dollars  income,  constitute  the  two  series  from  which  the 
coefficient  of  correlation  is  calculated.  This  coefficient  of  correlation  is 
a  measure  of  the  probable  closeness  of  relationship  between  scholarship 
and  income. 

A  perfect  positive  correlation,  denoted  by  r=l,  would  indicate  that 
for- the  group  studied,  at  least,  it  would  have  been  possible  to  predict 
accurately  a  man's  future  position  as  to  income  among  his  fellow  gradu- 
ates on  the  basis  of  his  imdergraduate  scholastic  record.  The  size  of 
the  r,  that  is,  its  approximation  to  the  perfect  correspondence  indicated 
by  1 .00,  is  the  measure  of  the  closeness  of  relationship  between  the  fac- 
tors in  question.  For  example,  r  =  .99  would  be  practically  perfect 
correlation. 

If  a  coefficient  of  — 1.00  were  found,  this  would  indicate  a  perfect 
inverse  relationship  between  scholarship  and  income.  Future  earnings 
could  still  be  safely  predicted  from  marks,  but  we  should  then  find  the 
man  who  stood  at  the  bottom  of  the  class  enjoying  the  largest  income 
and  the  man  who  led  his  class  receiving  the  smallest  monetary  reward. 
This  would  more  than  substantiate  the  student  tradition  that  the  high 
scholarship  man  is  likely  to  be  outstripped  by  the  poor  student  in  the 
years  after  graduation.  The  size  of  the  r,  then,  denotes  the  closeness 
of  the  probable  relationship,  while  the  sign  plus  or  minus,  shows  whether 
the  relationship  is  positive,  that  is,  such  that  increments  of  the  one  may 
be  expected  to  be  found  with  increments  of  the  other,  or  negative,  that 
is,  larger  amounts  of  the  one  may  be  expected  to  occur  with  correspond- 
ingly smaller  amounts  of  the  other. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  a  coefficient  of  correlation  represents 
simply  the  most  probable  measure  of  relationship  between  two  factors 
in  the  group  studied.  The  extent  to  which  inferences  drawn  from  cor- 
relations obtained  from  one  group  may  safely  be  applied  to  other  simi- 
lar groups  will  depend  upon  the  degree  to  which  the  group  measured  is 
a  random  sampling  of  the  larger  whole  of  which  each  group  is  a  part. 
The  group  measured  must  also  include  enough  cases  to  be  truly  represen- 
tative of  the  larger  group  from  which  it  was  drawn.  That  is,  a  co- 
efficient of  correlation  between  scholarship  and  income,  to  be  of  value 
for  prognosis  of  the  vocational  success  of  college  men  and  women,  should 
be  the  result  of  measuring  a  random  selection  of  college  graduates  of 


26  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

sufficient  number  to  be  representative  of  college  graduates  in  general. 
The  correlations  reported  in  this  chapter,  in  so  far  as  their  reliability  is 
established,  measure  the  probability  that  scholarship  in  college  is  pro- 
phetic of  success  in  vocation,  success  being  measured  by  income  twelve 
and  one-half  years  after  graduation.  The  exact  meaning  of  different 
series  of  correlations  is  defined  in  each  case,  in  terms  of  the  data  which 
were  available  and  the  method  used  in  calculating  the  coefficients. 

The  writer  believes  that  the  men  and  women  included  in  the  class  of 
1903  in  the  eleven  cooperating  colleges  are  a  fairly  representative  body 
of  college  graduates.  Ideally  the  group  should  have  been  selected  to 
include  every  type  of  college,  and  every  section  of  the  country.  The 
ideal  in  these  particulars  was  sacrificed  to  the  availability  of  the  re- 
quired data  and  the  limitations  of  time  and  money.  The  numbers 
included  in  the  basal  group,  something  over  eleven  hundred  men  and  wo- 
men, seemed  large  enough  for  valid  conclusions.  Unfortunately,  the  size 
of  this  group  was  reduced  in  various  ways  so  that  the  actual  correlations 
were  based  on  numbers  much  smaller  than  they  should  be  for  precise 
arguments,  involving  small  differences.  It  is  hoped  that  at  least  they 
are  large  enough  to  suggest  a  trend  which  may  be  verified  or  corrected 
by  further  studies  using  the  same  methods  of  measurement. 

FACTORS   DETERMINING   NUMBER  OF  CASES  FOR  CORREI.ATION 

A  number  of  conditions  operated  to  reduce  the  original  group  of  1153 
college  graduates,  and  to  break  it  up  into  smaller  groups,  thus  reducing 
the  reliability  of  the  coefficients  of  correlation  finally  calculated.  In 
the  first  place  something  over  100  individuals  were  not  reached  by  the 
questionnaire,  because  of  defective  or  missing  addresses  or  because  of 
foreign  residence.  In  the  second  place,  something  over  one  half  of  the 
women  were  married  and  since  the  majority  of  these  had  no  paid  occupa- 
pation  obviously  the  income  measure  of  success  was  inapplicable  to 
them.  In  the  third  place,  because  of  the  failure  of  the  alumni  lists  to 
distinguish  the  baccalaureate  graduates  from  those  whose  courses  were 
more  definitely  specialized  as  indicated  by  aB.S.  in  Agriculture,  Chem- 
istry or  Engineering,  or  distinctly  professional  as  implied  by  a  degree 
of  L.I/.B.  or  B.Iv.S.,  130  men  and  women  to  whom  letters  were  sent 
fell  outside  of  the  specific  inquiry  with  which  this  monograph  is  concern- 
ed. A  fourth  factor  in  reducing  the  number  of  cases  for  correlation 
was  failure  to  respond  to  the  questionnaire.  Income,  one  of  the  two 
measm*es  for  correlation,  was  available  only  for  the  men  and  women 
who  were  willing  to  furnish  this  item. 

The  final  cause  which  operated  to  produce  correlations  based  on  a 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income  27 

much  smaller  number  of  cases  than  was  expected  from  the  size  of  the 
original  group,  was  the  necessity  of  dividing  the  baccalaureate  graduates 
who  furnished  complete  data  for  correlation  into  groups,  first  on  the 
basis  of  vocation,  and  second,  on  the  basis  of  sex.  Insf)ection  of  the 
tabulation  of  income  distributions  for  different  occupations  given  in 
Table  XVII,  page  23,  will  reveal  at  once  the  invalidity  of  any  measure- 
ment of  the  relation  between  scholarship  and  income  which  fails  to 
differentiate  the  vocations  in  which  the  incomes  were  earned.  The  use 
of  income  as  a  measure  of  vocational  success  can  only  be  justified  on  the 
assumption  that  in  the  long  run  the  best  teachers,  the  best  lawyers,  the 
best  ministers,  receive  the  highest  remuneration,  as  compared  with  their 
fellows  in  the  same  occupations.  Were  we  to  disregard  vocational  lines 
we  should  have  to  conclude  on  the  basis  of  the  income  distribution  of 
Table  XVII  that  the  most  successful  college  graduates  were  lawyers 
and  business  me"n.  This  conclusion  would  rest  on  the  assumption  that 
income  constitutes  success.  The  writer  makes  no  such  assumption. 
Rather,  income  is  used  as  an  objective,  albeit  an  imperfect  index  of  the 
public's  recognition  of  the  individual's  relative  worth  within  his  voca- 
tion. 

A  further  reason  for  measuring  the  relationship  in  question  separately 
for  each  vocation,  revealed  itself  in  the  course  of  this  study.  By  tabulat- 
ing the  scholastic  ranks  of  the  individuals  in  the  larger  vocational  groups 
it  was  found  that  the  distribution  of  these  ranks  differed  markedly 
among  the  various  vocations.  Table  XVIII  shows  this  distribution 
for  men.  The  individuals  in  a  given  college  class  were  ranked  among 
their  classmates  on  a  scale  from  1  to  32.  Column  X  shows  the  fre- 
quency with  which  each  rank  was  attained  by  individuals  in  each  of  the 
larger  vocational  groups.  The  median  ranks  are  given  at  the  bottom  of 
the  table  for  comparison.  The  high  median  rank  for  teachers,  8.5,  and 
for  engineers,  11,  and  the  low  median  rank  for  business,  21,  are  striking 
features  of  this  comparison.  The  variations  in  distribution  among  oc- 
cupations for  women  are  of  doubtful  significance  because  of  the  small 
number  of  cases  represented  in  occupations  other  than  teaching.  The 
tabulation  for  women  is  therefore  omitted. 


28 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eijiciency 


TABLE  XVIII 
Distribution  op  Schoi^astic  Ranks  by  Occupations 

X— Distribution  of  all  baccalaureate  graduates  in  a  given  occupation. 
Y — Distribution  of  those  whose  incomes  were  available  for  correlation. 
Z — Distribution  of  those  whose  incomes  were  not  available  for  correlation. 


Frequencies  for  Different  Occupations  (Men) 

Scholarship 
Rank 

Teaching 

Business 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering 

Ministry 

X    Y    Z 

X    Y    Z 

X    Y    Z 

X    Y    Z 

X    Y    Z 

X    Y    Z 

1 

2  1       1 

3  3- 

4  3      1 
6      5      1 
4      4- 
4      3      1 
3      3- 
11- 
3      3- 
11- 
1      1      - 
1       1      - 
1      1      - 
1       1      - 
1       1      - 

3      2      1 

1  1      - 

3      1      2 

2  2- 

3  2      1 

1  -      1 

2  2- 
2      1       1 

1       1      - 

1  1      - 

3-3 

2  1       1 
6      6- 
4      2      2 

3  2      1 

2  1       1 
6-6 
3-3 
6      3      3 

3  1      2 
3      2      1 
3-3 

3  2      1 

4  3      1 
3      2      1 

5  1      4 

6  2      4 
3      1      2 

1  -      1 

2  2- 
6      3      3 
6      2      4 

6  5      1 

7  2      5 
4-4 
5      2      3 
5      1      4 

1      -      1 

3      3- 

1       1      - 

-      -      - 

2 

3 

3  1      1 

1  1      - 

2  1       1 
2-2 
2      1       1 

4  3      1 

1  1      - 

2  1       1 

1  1      - 

2  1       1 

2  2- 

3  2      1 

4  2      2 

2      2- 
1      -      1 

1       1      - 
1      1      - 

1      1       - 
3      3- 
1      -      1 
3      3- 

1  1      - 

2  1       1 

2  -      2 

1  1      - 

3  1      2 
3-3 

2  2      - 

3  2      1 
3      2      1 
1      1      - 

1       1       - 

1  1      - 

2  2- 
2      1      1 

1      -      1 
1      -      1 
1      1      - 
4      3      1 
1      -      1 

2-2 
1      -      1 

1  1      - 

2  2- 

4 

_      _      _ 

5 

6 

_      _      _ 

7 

8 

_      _      _ 

9 

10.       .       -. 

11- 

11 

1       1      - 

12 

13 

14 

_      _      _ 

IS 

_      _      _ 

16 

_      _      _ 

17-.. 

_      _      _ 

18 

_      _      _ 

19 

_      _      _ 

20 

1  1      - 

2  11 

21 

3-3 

4      3      1 
3      1      2 

1  -      1 

3      2      1 

2  1       1 
1      -      1 
1      -      1 

3  2      1 

1      -      1 
1       1      - 

1      1      - 

22 

23 

_      _      _ 

24 

2       1       1 

25 

26 

1       1       - 

27 

28 

1       1       - 

29 

30 

31 

1      -      1 
1      -      1 

32 

-      -      - 

-      -      - 

Total  Fre- 
quencies 1 

Median  Rank... 

56    46    10 
8.5    8.0  18.5 

112    48    64 
20.5  19    21 

51    30    21 
14  13.5  16 

43    26    17 
15  13.5    15 

23     14      9 
11     11     12 

9      7      2 
21    21     22.5 

'  Excludes  one  college  for  which  records  were  available  only  for  men  replying. 

Since  this  table  makes  a  comparison  between  the  distribution  of 
scholarship  for  those  who  furnish  incomes  and  those  who  do  not,  it 
excludes  one  college  which  furnished  scholarship  records  only  for  those 
men  who  responded  to  the  questionnaire.  When  the  distribution  for 
this  college  is  included  the  median  ranks  for  those  whose  records  were 
correlated  are  as  follows: 

Median  Rank  Cases 

Teaching 9     65 

Business 19     67 

Law 14.5 34 

Medicine 14.5 30 

Engineering 10.5 20 

Ministry 20     13 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income  29 

It  is  also  manifestly  unfair  to  compare  the  incomes  of  women  with  the 
incomes  of  men,  even  within  the  same  occupation.  A  comparison  of 
the  income  distribution  for  women  teachers  with  the  distribution  for 
men  teachers  (page  23),  shows  that  only  a  little  more  than  7  per  cent 
of  the  women  reach  or  surpass  in  income  the  median  income  for  the 
men.  To  disregard  sex  in  making  our  comparison  would  therefore 
involve  such  absurd  assumptions  as  that  a  preponderant  majority  of 
men  who  are  in  the  teaching  profession  are  far  more  successful  than 
the  women  in  the  same  profession. 

TREATMENT  OF  DATA 

The  basal  measure  used  in  this  investigation  to  represent  an  individ- 
ual's scholastic  achievement  is  an  average  of  all  his  marks  for  his 
entire  college  course.  The  record  of  marks  was  transcribed  in  each 
of  the  cooperating  colleges,  under  the  supervision  of  the  registrar,  on 
uniform  blanks  and  in  accordance  with  uniform  instructions  furnished 
by  the  writer.  Transcriptions  of  records  were  thus  obtained  for  the 
entire  class  of  1903  in  nine  of  the  colleges.  In  the  other  two  colleges 
records  were  furnished  only  for  those  individuals  who  sent  replies  to 
the  occupational  questionnaire. 

The  calculation  of  an  average  of  all  marks  obtained  was  a  straight- 
forward process  for  those  colleges  which  used  numerical  marking  sys- 
tems. There  were  five  such  systems.  A  sixth  had  part  of  its  marks 
in  numerical  terms  and  part  in  literal  terms.  The  other  five  used  let- 
ters or  some  other  form  of  symbol,  two  of  them  specifying  numerical 
equivalents  and  three  making  no  such  specification.  Where  numerical 
equivalents  were  assigned,  the  letters  were  translated  into  the  equiva- 
lent figures  and  averages  calculated.  Where  no  numerical  equiva- 
lents were  suggested,  such  equivalents  were  arbitrarily  assigned  as 
seemed  best  to  fit  the  case.  For  example,  in  a  literal  system  consist- 
ing of  5  marks,  A,B,C,  D  and  F,  the  equivalents  used  were  1,3,4,5  and 
7,  respectively,  while  for  a  system  offering  three  marks  only^  (H,  Honor; 
C,  Credit;  P,  Passed),  90,  80  and  65,  respectively,  were  the  equivalents 
used. 

With  these  averages  calculated  and  the  individuals  of  a  given  col- 
lege arranged  in  order  of  average  marks  from  best  to  poorest,  the  first 
member  of  the  paired  values  to  constitute  the  correlation  series  for 
that  college  was  at  hand.  The  second  measure,  income,  was  lacking, 
however,  for  about  40  per  cent  of  the  individuals.  These  missing 
measures  were  in  general  scattered  almost  but  not  quite  at  random 
throughout  the  scholarship  distribution  of  the  class.  But  the  corre- 
lation was  not  to  be  determined  directly  for  the  class  as  a  whole. 


30  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

which  included  many  diflferent  occupations,  but  was  to  be  calculated 
for  each  occupation  separately.  Therefore,  unless  the  number  of  cases 
used  for  each  calculation  was  to  be  extremely  small  it  was  necessary  to 
combine  the  records  of  all  individuals  of  the  same  sex  engaged  in  the 
same  occupation  regardless  of  the  college  from  which  they  had  been 
graduated.  If  this  procedure  was  to  be  followed,  it  was  necessary  to 
find  some  method  of  equating  marks  from  different  colleges. 

This  problem  of  equating  marks  presented  serious  difficulties,  for 
the  variety  in  marking  systems  was  exactly  as  great  as  the  number  of 
colleges  represented.  This  variety  was  partly  a  matter  of  the  kind  of 
scale  used,  partly  a  matter  of  the  fineness  of  the  scale,  and  partly  a 
difference  in  meaning  of  measures  called  by  the  same  name.  For  ex- 
ample, four  of  the  colleges  used  percentage  systems,  permitting  varia- 
tions of  1  per  cent  or  a  fraction  of  1  per  cent  in  the  mark  of  an  individ- 
ual in  a  given  subject.  Inspection  of  the  distribution  of  marks  for 
an  entire  class  in  each  of  these  colleges  showed,  however,  a  range  of 
final  averages  for  one  of  these  colleges  of  55  per  cent  to  94  per  cent,  for 
another  college,  a  range  of  78  per  cent  to  97  per  cent.  What  we  have 
learned  from  the  various  studies  of  variability  in  teachers'  marks  would 
lead  us  to  conclude  that  this  difference  in  range  is  more  likely  to  be  due 
to  a  difference  in  standards  of  marking  than  to  a  difference  in  range  of 
scholastic  achievement  from  college  to  college.  It  would  therefore 
be  unsafe  to  give  the  same  scholarship  ratings  to  two  individuals  receive 
ing  the  same  mark,  80  per  cent  for  example,  one  being  a  graduate  of 
the  first  college,  the  other  a  graduate  of  the  second  college. 

Three  colleges  marked  by  letters  with  percentage  equivalents  but 
the  equivalents  were  not  the  same  in  any  two  of  the  three  colleges.  In 
one  college  B  corresponded  to  80  per  cent,  in  another  it  represented  a 
range  from  70  to  80  per  cent,  in  the  third,  it  meant  from  85  to  95  per 
cent.  Three  colleges,  as  already  noted,  used  some  form  of  literal 
marking  without  numerical  equivalents.  As  to  fineness  of  scale,  these 
literal  systems  ranged  from  three  to  seven  possible  marks. 

Obviously,  then,  the  figure  which  represented  a  student's  scholarship 
average  in  a  given  college,  and  placed  him  satisfactorily  among  his 
classmates,  would  not  be  comparable  as  a  gross  amount  with  such  an 
average  in  another  college. 

The  most  promising  method  for  equating  the  measures  in  such  series 
of  varying  amounts  is  ordinarily  to  transmute  the  measures,  represent- 
ing each  measure  in  terms  of  its  deviation  plus  or  minus  from  some, 
central  tendency  of  its  series,  and  expressing  this  difference  as  a  multi- 
ple of  some  measure  of  the  variability  of  the  series.     This  method  was 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income 


31 


applied  to  six  colleges,  the  average  being  used  as  the  central  tendency 
and  the  mean  square  deviation  as  the  measure  of  variability.  The 
tabulation  below  shows  the  transmuted  marks  of  the  top  10th  and  the 
lowest  10th  in  scholarship  in  each  of  the  six  colleges. 

TABLE  XIX 

Transmuted  Marks  op  the  Highest  10th  and  Lowest  10th  in  Scholarship 

IN  Six  colleges 


College  A 

College  B 

College  C 

College  D 

College  E 

College  F 

1.856<T 

1.762 

1.638 

1.622 

1.575 

1.528 

1.674<T 

1.659 

1.595 

1.532 

1.485 

1.601ff 

1.539 

1.414 

1.331 

1.268 

2.879(T 
2.570 
2.403 
2.403 
2.165 
1.761 
1.594 
1.570 
1.570 
1.523 
1.404 
1.332 
—1 .  166 
1.213 
1.213 
1.213 
1.237 
1.380 
1.380 
1.570 
1.570 
1.761 
1.761 
2.665 

2.189(T 

2.094 

2.065 

1.923 

1.875 

1.808 

1.642 

1.361 

1.361 

1.666 

2.566<T 

2.364 

1.623 

1.497 

1.462 

1.423 

1.347 

1.159 

—1.370 
1.480 
1.504 
1.629 
1.685 
1.742 
1.785 
1.884 
1.932 
1.965 

—1.232 

1.331 

— 1.294 

1.366 

1.341 
1.341 
1.497 
1.794 
2.262 

—1.532 
1.564 
1.769 
2.054 
2.068 

—1.435 
1.476 
1.788 
2.100 
2.100 

1.368 
1.674 
1.869 
2.267 
2.975 

Evidently  these  colleges  differed  in  the  degree  to  which  their  scholar- 
ship distributions  approached  in  form  the  symmetrical,  bell-shaped 
"normal  curve  of  distribution."  The  combining  of  these  gross  meas- 
ures of  scholarship  in  correlation  series,  irrespective  of  the  distribution 
for  each  college,  would  be  manifestly  unfair.  For  example,  inspection 
of  this  table  shows  that  the  highest  student  in  college  B  is  represented 
by  a  score  which  is  exceeded  by  6  students  or  5  per  cent  of  the  students 
in  college  D,  by  6  or  nearly  6  per  cent  in  college  E;  the  best  student  in 
college  A  has  a  poorer  rating  than  any  of  the  upper  5th  in  college  D; 
the  highest  ranking  in  college  C  is  lower  than  any  of  the  top  7th  per  cent 
in  college  E.  While  it  is  probably  true  that  some  colleges  draw  more 
brilliant  students  than  others,  it  would  be  fallacious  to  assume  that  a 


32  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

given  college  drew  such  students  on  the  basis  of  higher  relative  scores 
attained  by  its  best  students  as  compared  with  the  best  students  in 
other  colleges.  For,  in  interpreting  these  college  marks  it  must  be 
remembered  that  they  are  based  upon  wholly  subjective  and  unscien- 
tific marking  systems. ' 

The  attempt  to  equate  gross  amounts  of  scholarship  from  college 
to  college  was  finally  abandoned  because  any  method  that  offered 
hope  of  usable  results  involved  a  refinement  of  statistical  procedure  and 
an  expenditure  of  time  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  refinement  of  the 
original  measures  or  to  the  greater  exactness  of  the  conclusions  to  be 
reached. 

The  alternatives  were  (1)  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  equating  gross 
scholarship  measures  in  the  different  colleges  by  calculating  the  co- 
efficients for  the  main  occupational  groups  in  each  college  separately, 
then  combining  the  resultant  coefficients,  weighting  each  coefficient 
in  such  a  way  as  to  take  account  of  the  number  of  cases  upon  which 
it  was  based;  (2)  to  state  the  scholarship  measure  of  each  individual 
in  terms  of  his  relative  position  among  his  classmates,  assuming  that 
a  given  relative  position  in  one  college  is  equivalent  in  scholastic 
achievement  to  the  same  relative  position  in  any  other  college,  thus  pro- 
viding a  means  of  equating  ranks  rather  than  gross  amounts  of  scholar- 
ship. Each  of  these  alternatives  has  advantages  and  disadvantages. 
Since  it  was  desirable  to  use  all  the  facts  as  completely  as  possible, 
both  methods  of  measurement  were  adopted. 

In  preparing  the  series  of  paired  values  for  correlation  by  the  method 
of  relative  positions  it  was  necessary  to  adopt  some  common  base  for 
ranking  the  individuals,  since  the  classes  varied  in  size  from  45  to  207 
members.  For  this  ptupose  32  was  arbitrarily  selected.  Each  in- 
dividual in  a  given  college  class  was  ranked  on  a  scale  from  1  to  32,  ac- 
cording to  his  relative  position  in  scholarship  among  his  classmates 
(1  highest  rank,  32  lowest  rank).  On  the  assumption  that  rank  4  in 
college  A  is  equivalent  to  rank  4  in  any  other  college,  it  was  now  pos- 
sible to  equate  roughly  scholastic  standing  in  the  different  colleges. 
The  method  used  in  forming  the  series  of  paired  values  for  calculating 
the  coefficients  of  correlation  between  income  and  scholarship  in  the 
different  occupational  groups  is  illustrated  in  the  following  tabulation 
of  the  records  of  women  engaged  in  social  and  religious  work.  The 
women  were  graduates  of  six  different  colleges. 

*  Several  of  the  colleges  report  changes  in  their  marking  systems  since  1903. 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income 


TABLE  XX 


33 


Tabulation  op  the  Income  and  Scholarship  Records  op  a  Given  Vocational 
Group  as  a  Basis  for  Correlation 


Individual 

I 
Income 

II 
Class  Scholar- 
ship Rank 

III 
Occupational 
Group  Scholar- 
ship Rank 

IV 
Income 
Rank 

a 

$2,100 

2,000 

1,750 

1,750 

1,600 

1,250 

1,200 

1,200 

900 

900 

750 

28 
23 
14 
1 
21 
26 

3 
18 
26 
27 
19 

11 

7 

3 

1 

6 

8.5 

2 

4 

8.5 
10 

5 

1 

b 

2 

c 

3.5 

d 

3.5 

e 

5 

£ 

6 

g 

7.S 

h.. 

7.5 

i 

9.5 

j 

9.5 

k 

11 

Individuals  a  to  fe,  1 1  in  number,  reported  themselves  as  engaged  in 
some  form  of  social  v^ork  or  religious  vvrork,  and  as  receiving  the  incomes 
stated  in  column  I.  The  class  tabulations  of  scholarship  in  terms  of  rela- 
tive position  on  a  scale  of  1  to  32  showed  for  these  individuals  the  class 
ranks  listed  in  column  II.  Since  the  vocational  group  classified  as 
"Women  Engaged  in  Social  and  Religious  Work"  included  only  11 
individuals  furnishing  ftdl  data  for  correlation,  the  range  of  ranks  for 
income  vdthin  this  group  is  from  1  to  1 1 .  To  obtain  a  parallel  series  of 
scholarship  measures,  it  was  necessary  to  restate  the  measures  listed 
in  column  II  so  that  they  represented  on  a  scale  of  1  to  1 1  the  relative 
scholastic  achievement  as  imdergraduates  of  this  particular  group,  e.g., 
women  engaged  in  social  and  religious  work  twelve  and  one-half  years 
after  graduation.  This  restatement  is  made  in  column  III.  Column  IV 
lists  the  rank  of  each  individual  with  reference  to  income.  The  series  of 
paired  values  constituting  the  correlation  series  are  those  tabulated  in 
columns  III  and  IV. 

The  method  used  for  computing  the  coefficient  of  correlation  was 
Spearman's  method  by  ranks,  using  the  formula 

and  transmuting  p  into  r  by  the  use  of  appropriate  tables.  Table  XXI 
records  the  coefficients  calculated  by  this  method  for  the  occupations 
which  were  represented  by  a  sufficient  number  of  cases  to  justify  cor- 


34 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


relation.  In  interpreting  these  correlations  the  method  of  arriving  at 
the  series  of  paired  values  for  correlation  should  be  held  in  mind.  It 
will  be  recalled  that  these  paired  values  represent  the  relative  standing 
in  scholarship  and  in  income  of  each  individual  of  a  given  occupational 
group  with  reference  to  other  college  graduates  in  the  same  occupational 
group  rather  than  with  reference  to  position  in  the  class  as  a  whole. 
This  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  because  as  Table  XVIII,  on  page  28, 
shows,  the  scholarship  distribution  differs  materially  for  men  engaged 
in  different  occupations. 


TABLE  XXI 
Correlations   Between  Scholarship  and   Income   Calculated  by  the 


Formula: 


P  =  1 


62D^ 


n(n'—l) 


Occupation 


P.  E. 


Number  of 
Cases 


MEN 

Teaching 

Business 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering 

Ministry  . 

WOMEN 

Teaching 

Social  and  Religious  Work 
Business 


,28    ,h 

.07 

.03 

.08 

.49      - 

.09 

.26 

.11 

.23 

.14 

.25 

.17 

65 
67 

34 
30 
20 
13 


.04 
.01 
.62 


.07 
.20 

.11 


95 
11 

12 


It  will  be  noted  from  this  table  that  with  one  exception  for  men  and 
one  for  women  the  correlations  are  all  low.  Because  of  the  rather  large 
probable  errors  of  the  coefficients  it  is  not  possible  to  determine  with 
surety  from  these  calculations  what  variations  may  exist  among  different 
vocations  as  to  the  closeness  of  relationship  between  income  and  scholar- 
ship. 

If  we  average  the  coefficients  of  correlation  for  the  "learned  profes- 
sions" for  which  college  is  traditionally  supposed  to  prepare,  weighting 
each  coefficient  roughly  as  the  square  root  of  the  number  of  cases  which 
it  represents,  we  obtain  for  the  weighted  r,  or  r'" ,  as  we  shall  designate 
it,  a  value  of  .20+.05.  The  procedure  by  which  this  r"^  was  obtained 
is  as  follows: 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income 


35 


Occupation 

r 

wt 

rXwt 

Number  of 
Cases 

Teaching 

.281 

.487 

.250 

—.260 

8 
6 

31 

5^ 

2.248 

2.922 

.875 

—1.430 

65 

Law  -                    

34 

Ministry  .- 

13 

Medicine 

30 

Total 

23 

4.615 

142 

P.E.  of  r-^  = 


\-{.2Q0) 
Vl42 


=  .20 
(.6745)  =  .05 


Combining  by  the  same  method  the  correlations  for  all  occupations 
(men)  listed  in  Table  XXI,  we  obtain  an  r"  of  .11±.04.  While  the  cor- 
relation for  the  "learned  professions"  is  higher  than  that  for  all  occupa- 
tions it  is  still  too  low  to  justify  the  prediction  of  relative  income  12 
years  after  graduation  on  the  basis  of  relative  undergraduate  scholar- 
ship. The  weighted  coefficient  for  women  in  the  three  occupations 
listed  is  .15±.05. 

It  must  again  be  emphasized  that  the  above  method  of  treatment 
measures  only  the  closeness  of  correspondence  between  relative  positions 
in  scholarship  and  income  within  a  given  occupational  group,  e.g.,  business 
or  teaching.  It  takes  no  accoimt  of  the  scholastic  position  of  the  individ- 
uals with  reference  to  the  class  as  a  whole.  If  the  individuals  of  any  given 
occupation  were  distributed  throughout  the  scholarship  range  in  about 
the  same  way  as  the  individuals  of  any  other  occupation,  this  limited 
interpretation  of  the  meastu-ement  would  not  be  important.  But  inspec- 
tion of  the  scholarship  distribution  by  occupations  given  on  page  28 
shows  that  such  is  not  the  case.  For  convenience  of  reference  the  essen- 
tial facts  of  this  distribution  are  restated  in  Table  XXII. 

TABLE  XXII 
Percentages  op  Men  in  Dwferent  OcctjPATioNs  in  Successive  Divisions  op 
Their  Respective  Classes  According  to  Scholarship 


No. 

of 

Cases 

Percentages  in  Each  Scholastic  Quartile,  and  in  the  Upper 
and  Lower  Halves  of  the  Class 

Occupation 

For  Men  Whose  Records 
were  Correlated 

For  All  Men  Whose  Income 
Records '  were  not  Available 

Quartiles 
1st    2nd    3rd  4th 

H  alves 
Upper     Lower 

Quartiles 
1st    2nd    3rd  4th 

Halves 
Upper     Lower 

Teaching 

Business 

Law 

65 
67 
34 
30 
20 
13 

49  25      15    11 
21  24     22  33 

26  35     18  21 

27  33     30  10 
35  30     15  20 

8  23     46  23 

74         26 
45        55 
61         39 
60        40 
65         35 
31         69 

50  20     16  14 
15  23     25  37 
27  37     20  16 
19  39     26  16 
30  39     17  13 
Number    too 
include. 

70         30 
38         62 
64         36 

Medicine 

Engineering  .. 
Ministry 

58        42 

69        30 

small    to 

>  Oneof  the  colleges  furnished  scholarship  records  only  for  the  men  who  responded  to  the  questionnaire. 
The  records  of  this  college  therefore  had  to  be  excluded  from  this  side  of  the  table,  but  are  included  in 
the  section  dealing  with  "Men  Whose  Records  were  Correlated." 


36  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  E^ciency 

It  is  evident  from  the  statistics  shown  in  this  table  that  for  college  men 
the  scholastic  comparison  in  the  case  of  teachers  is,  relatively  speaking, 
among  the  members  of  a  high  ranking  group,  while  in  the  case  of  business 
men  it  is  among  the  members  of  a  low  ranking  group.  Comparing  these 
two  vocations  by  scholarship  quartiles  we  find  in  the  first  or  top  quartile 
49  per  cent  of  the  teachers  as  against  21  per  cent  of  the  business  men; 
in  the  second  quartile  25  per  cent  of  the  teachers  and  24  per  cent  of  the 
business  men;  in  the  third  quartile  15  per  cent  of  the  teachers  and  22 
per  cent  of  the  business  men;  in  the  fourth  quartile  11  per  cent  of  the 
teachers  and  33  per  cent  of  the  business  men.  Comparing  the  scholas- 
tic distribution  of  the  two  occupations  as  to  percentages  above  and  below 
the  middle  rank  for  the  class,  we  find  74  per  cent  of  the  teachers  as 
against  45  per  cent  of  the  business  men  in  the  upper  half  of  the  class, 
and  in  the  lower  half  we  find  26  per  cent  of  the  teachers  and  55  per  cent 
of  the  business  men. 

Since  these  vocational  variations  in  the  distribution  of  undergraduate 
scholarship  exist,  a  method  of  correlation  which  takes  account  of  the 
exact  amounts  of  income  and  scholarship  would  offer  a  more  valuable  con- 
tribution toward  answering  the  second  and  more  general  question : 
"What  is  the  relation  between  income  rank  in  one's  vocation,  and  under- 
graduate scholarship  rank  in  the  class  as  a  whole?"  Such  a  method  of 
correlation  would  also  offer  a  more  exact  measure  of  the  relationship  in 
question,  and  so  is  desirable  from  that  point  of  view.  The  difficulty  in 
applying  this  method,  as  noted  earlier  in  this  chapter,  arises  from  the 
failure  to  discover  reliable  means  of  equating  the  gross  amounts  of 
scholarship  from  college  to  college.  In  the  absence  of  valid  means  of 
equating  marks  in  gross  amounts,  the  only  possibility  of  securing  correla- 
tions based  on  gross  amounts  of  scholarship  and  income  was  to  measure 
the  relationship  in  question  for  each  occupation  in  each  college  separately 
and  then  to  combine  the  results  for  each  occupation  from  all  colleges. 
This  method  could  not  hope  to  yield  conclusive  results  because  of  the 
small  number  of  cases  available  for  many  of  the  individual  correlations. 
However,  since  the  available  data  were  not  adapted  to  more  satisfactory 
treatment,  this  method  was  adopted. 

The  procedure  used  was  as  follows.  For  each  college  the  individuals 
furnishing  income  data  were  grouped  according  to  occupations  into  the 
six  major  occupational  groups  represented  in  the  series  of  correlations 
based  on  relative  positions.  Two  records  were  then  tabulated  for  each 
of  these  individuals:  (1)  scholarship  mark  (average  of  all  marks  for 
the  entire  college  course),  and  (2)  amount  of  income  for  the  past  year 
(exclusive  of  inheritance  and  income  from  inheritance).     These  two 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income 

records  constituted  the  paired  values  for  correlation. 
Pearson  formula 

"^  X.  y 


37 


Applying  the 


Vx\Vy'' 

coefficients  of  correlation  were  calculated  for  each  occupation  in  each 
college.  The  resultant  coefficients  for  each  of  the  chief  occupations 
were  then  assembled  and  averaged,  each  coefficient  having  been  weight- 
ed as  the  square  root  of  the  number  of  cases  from  which  it  was  calcu- 
lated. '  The  weighted  r,  or  r™ ,  serves  as  a  measure  of  the  relationship 
in  question.  Table  XXIII  shows  the  coefficients  of  correlation  calcu- 
ated  by  this  method. 

TABLE  XXIII 

Correlations  Between  Marks  and  Income  Based  on  Gross  Amounts  op 

Each  Factor 


Occupation 

Number  of 
Cases 

Number  of 
Colleges 

fW 

P.  E. 

MEN 

Teaching 

65 
63 
34 
27 
18 

7 
7 
6 
5 
3 

.28 
.10 
.19 

—  .30 

—  .22 

.07 

Business 

.08 

Law 

.11 

Medicine     

.17 

Engineering 

.15 

WOMEN 

Teaching 

95 

7 

.02 

.07 

The  ministry  is  omitted  from  this  series  because  the  number  of  individuals  per  college  was  in  most 
cases  too  small  to  justify  correlation. 

Examination  of  this  series  of  correlations  reveals  the  same  outstand- 
ing features  as  those  noted  in  the  series  based  upon  relative  scholastic 
position  in  the  vocational  group  and  relative  income  position  in  the 
same  group.  For  convenience  in  comparing  the  two  series  of  correla- 
tions they  are  listed  in  Table  XXIV,  in  parallel  columns. 

In  so  far  as  correlations  calculated  by  the  method  described  for  series 
two  may  be  accepted  as  valid  for  measuring  a  possible  drift  of  relation- 
ship, the  second  set  of  measures  offers  no  more  justification  than  did 
the  first  series  for  predicting  future  vocational  achievement  on  the  basis 
of  college  marks. 

'  For  illustration  of  the  method  used  in  securing  f*.  see  page  35. 


38 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


TABLE  XXIV 

Comparison  of  Correlations  Based  on  Amounts  With  Correlations  Based 

ON  Relative  Position  in  Vocational  Group 


Occupation 

fw Based  on  Gross 
Amounts  of  Scholar- 
ship and  Income 

No. 

of 

Cases 

r  Based  on  Income 
Rank  and  Scholar- 
ship Rank   within 
Vocational  Group 

No. 

of 

Cases 

rw             P.E. 

r                 P.E. 

MEN 
Teaching 

.28               .07 
.10               .08 
.19            .   .11 

—  .30               .17 

—  .22               .15 
Cases  per  college  too  few 

65 
63 
34 
27 
18 
for  corre 

.28               .08 
.03               .09 
.49               .09 

—  .26               .12 

—  .23               .15 
lation.  .25                  .18 

65 

Business.- 

67 

Law     .-       -  -  .  -  _ 

34 

Medicine 

30 

Engineering    . _. 

20 

Ministry  .  _ 

13 

WOMEN 

Teaching 

.02               .06 

95 

.04               .07 

95 

ALL  OCCUPATIONS 

Men .. 

.06               .05 
Cases  per  collie  too  few 

207 
for  corre 

.11               .04 

lation.  .15                    .05 

229 

Women 

118 

INTERPRETATION  OF  RESULTS 

In  the  light  of  the  low  coefficients  of  correlation  obtained  by  each 
of  the  two  methods  of  measurement  used,  it  is  apparent  that  no  close 
correspondence  exists  between  the  undergraduate  marks  of  the  bac- 
calaureate graduate  and  his  income  twelve  and  a  half  years  after  grad- 
uation. That  some  relationship  probably  does  exist  is  suggested  by 
the  fact  that  the  majority  of  the  coefficients,  while  low,  are  positive. 
But  it  is  clear  that  no  such  close  correspondence  exists  between  the 
facts  measured  as  has  been  found  to  obtain  between  college  rank  and 
Who's  Who  achievement,  rank  in  college,  and  rank  in  the  law  or  med- 
ical school,  rank  in  high  school  and  rank  in  college. 

Two  considerations  may  be  mentioned  as  probably  affecting  the 
closeness  of  the  relationships  in  the  three  cases  mentioned  above  as 
compared  with  the  relationships  studied  in  this  investigation.  In 
the  first  place  a  common  factor,  which  we  have  been  pleased  to  call 
"general  intelligence,"  is  probably  the  trait  most  surely  measured  by 
school  marks,  whether  in  high  school,  college  or  professional  school, 
and  by  the  type  of  success  which  is  most  frequently  responsible  for 
mention  in  Who's  Who.  That  this  trait  is  measured  with  a  fair  de- 
gree of  success  by  school  marks  is  indicated  by  the  generally  close 
agreement  between  scores  achieved  by  students  in  intelligence  tests 
and  their   school    marks.      It    is    entirely    possible,    however,    that 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income 


39 


this  trait  is  of  far  less  importance,  relatively,  in  determining  success 
in  vocation  than  in  determining  scholastic  achievement.  In  vocation- 
al success  other  elements  of  personal  equipment  undoubtedly  play 
a  part.  Not  only  emotional  and  other  "personality"  traits,  but  in 
particular  the  ability  to  manage  men  and  the  ability  to  manage  things 
evidently  have  much  to  do  with  professional  advancement  in  practi- 
cally every  field.  This  fact  impressed  the  writer  strongly  in  reading 
the  occupational  records  of  the  class  of  1903  from  graduation  to  the 
year  1915-1916  as  given  in  replies  to  the  occupational  questionnaire. 
Just  how  potent  are  these  factors  as  compared  with  "general  intelli- 
gence" in  contributing  to  vocational  success,  we  have  at  present  no 
certain  means  of  knowing.  It  is  the  writer's  opinion  that  their  rela- 
tive potency  will  undoubtedly  vary  with  different  occupations. 

The  second  consideration  is  the  variation  in  scholarship  range  for 
different  occupations.  In  interpreting  any  measurement  of  rela- 
tionship between  marks  and  later  success,  this  factor  seems  important 
enough  to  justify  a  summary  at  this  point  of  the  available  data  on  the 
subject.     These  data  are  presented  in  Tables  XXV  to  XXVIII. 

While  these  tabulations  arc  not  comparable  as  to  details,  they  do 
throw  into  relief  the  marked  selective  tendency  of  scholastic  success 
in  relation  to  vocation,  and  corroborate  the  writer's  finding  of  the  very 
high  scholastic  position  of  the  teaching  profession,  the  equally  low  one 
of  business,  and  of  the  generally  high  rank  of  lawyers  and  engineers. 
The  figiu-es  as  to  the  ministry  are  conflicting.  Only  nine  out  of  one  hun- 
dred Wesleyan  high  honor  men  were  ministers,  while  PauU  found  53  per 
cent  of  Harvard  ministers  in  the  upper  third  of  their  class. 


TABLE  XXV 
OccuPATioNAi,  Distribution  op  Coubgb  Graduates  According  to  Per  Cent 
Found  in  Successive  Fifths  in  Scholastic  Rank  (Men  of  1903,  Graduates 
OF  Six  Colleges)  [Gambrill] 


Number 
of  Cases 


Teaching 

Business 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering. 
Ministry 


Highest 

Second 

Middle 

Fourth 

Lowest 

Fifth 

Fifth 

Fifth 

Fifth 

Fifth 

41 

23 

18 

11 

7 

4 

19 

26 

21 

30 

20 

24 

27 

20 

10 

7 

27 

39 

17 

10 

26 

35 

26 

9 

4 

22 

11 

55 

11 

56 
109 
51 
41 
23 
9 


40 


College  Achtevement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


TABLE    XXVI 

OccuPATioNAi,  Distribution  op  "Successpul"  Men  According  to  Per   Cent 

Found   in   Successive   Fipths   op   Scholarship   Range  ^    [Kunkel] 

Number 
of  Cases 


Teaching 

Business 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering 

Ministry 

Journalism- 
Science 


Highest 

Second 

Middle 

Fourth 

Lowest 

Fifth 

Fifth 

Fifth 

Fifth 

Fifth 

62 

20 

5.5 

9.1 

3.6 

16 

18 

22 

22 

22 

32.5 

18.5 

23.1 

10.8 

16.9 

24.1 

27.6 

24.1 

10.3 

13.8 

30.8 

11.9 

19.2 

21.5 

16.7 

25 

25 

25 

17 

7.5 

9.1 

9.1 

45.5 

9.1 

18.2 

40 

20 

10 

30 

55 
50 
65 
29 
42 
40 
11 
10 


TABLE  XXVII 

Distribution  According  to  Occupation  op  2,145  Harvard  College  Graduates 

op  the  Classes  1901,  1902,  1903,  1904,  1905,  Showing  Percentage  in 

Each  Successive  Scholastic  Tertile  ^    [Paull] 


Highest 

Middle 

Lowest 

Number 

Third 

Third 

Third 

of  Cases 

54 

32 

14 

307 

21 

33 

46 

550 

21 

35 

44 

200 

43 

34 

23 

486 

29 

34 

37 

141 

36 

34 

30 

160 

53 

32 

15 

52 

29 

41 

30 

53 

14 

30 

56 

43 

26 

25 

49 

153 

Teaching  and  Social  Science 

Business 

Manufacturing 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering 

Ministry 

Journalism 

Agriculture 

Other  Occupati  ons 


TABLE  XXVIII 

Percentages  op  High  Honor  Men  Compared  With  Percentages  op  Wesleyan 

Graduates  Found  in  Who's  Who  por  Dipperent  Occupations' 

[Nicholson] 


High  Honor  Graduates, 
1875-1906.    (100  men) 


Wesleyan    Graduates 
Mentioned  in  Who's 
Who  (159  men) 


Teaching 

Law 

Ministry 

Business 

Physicians 

Scientists 

Writing  and  Journalism. 
Patent  Office  Examiner. 


40 

15 

25 
2h 
Practically  all  the  others 
are  in  some  one  of  the 
learned  professions. 


»  "The  Lafayette,"  April  15, 1917. 

«  "The  Relative  Standing  in   College  of  Graduates  Entering  Various  Professions,"   School  and 
Society,  May  26, 1917. 

»  "Success  in  College  and  in  After  Life,"  School  and  Society,  August  14,  1915. 


College  Marks  as  Related  to  Income  41 

The  fact  that  Who's  Who  as  a  measure  of  success  unduly  weights 
certain  occupations  has  been  recognized  by  several  of  the  investigators 
who  have  studied  the  relation  between  success  in  college  and  success 
in  after  life.  It  should  be  noted  that  those  occupations  which  this 
measure  favors  are  among  the  vocations  which  have  a  very  high  scholar- 
ship distribution.  Nicholson  found,  for  example,  that  55  per  cent  of 
Wesleyan's  high  honor  men  for  the  years  1875-1906  were  teachers  and 
that  40  per  cent  of  the  Wesleyan  Who's  Who  men  were  in  this  occupa- 
tion. He  also  found  that  the  1914-1915  edition  of  Who's  Who  includes 
the  names  of  all  but  four  of  the  faculty  of  Wesleyan  University  of 
professorial  rank,  and  from  30  per  cent  to  practically  100  per  cent  of 
the  professors  of  a  representative  group  of  other  colleges.  Law  is 
another  occupation  which  has  a  relatively  high  scholastic  distribution. 
According  to  the  educational  statistics  given  in  the  1910-1911  edition 
of  Who's  Who,  law  has  a  larger  number  of  representatives  in  the  volume 
than  any  other  occupation.  The  vocational  selection  of  Who's  Who 
thus  seems,  in  part  at  least,  to  be  identical  with  the  vocational  selection 
of  high  scholarship. 

The  failure  to  find  a  very  close  relation  between  college  marks  and 
later  income  does  not  prove  that  it  does  not  pay  to  study,  any  more 
than  the  opposite  finding  would  prove  that  it  does  pay  to  study.  ^  As 
pointed  out  in  Chapter  I  a  high  correlation  could  at  best  prove  that 
the  college  had  succeeded  in  discovering  and  rewarding  the  kind  of 
ability  that  later  did  succeed  in  vocation — that  its  measures  and  those 
of  the  world  outside  of  college  are  the  same.  In  any  case  the  burden 
of  proof  would  still  rest  upon  the  college  to  show  that  the  training 
which  it  had  given  its  able  men  had  contributed  materially  to  their 
success.  The  finding  of  a  low  correlation  does  show,  however,  either 
that  the  college  has  failed  to  enlist  the  energies  of  its  undergraduates 
to  such  a  degree  that  its  marks  serve  as  an  index  of  vocational  ability 
as  measured  by  income,  or  that  the  traits  which  lead  to  scholastic 
success  are  not  in  large  measure  the  traits  which  register  later  in  rela- 
tively high  income  within  one's  vocational  group, 

'  Note  the  implication  of  Foster's  article,  "Should  Students  Study?"  Harper's 
Magazine,  September,  1916. 


CHAPTER  IV 

EXTRA-CURRICULAR  ACTIVITY  IN  RELATION  TO 
INCOME 

The  college  authorities  usually  record  a  single  measure  of  a  student's 
achievement — his  scholastic  marks.  His  mates,  however,  rate  him  in 
terms  of  his  zeal  and  success  in  the  multitude  of  activities  which  go  to 
make  up  what  is  known  as  "college  life."  By  implication  this  "life" 
seems  to  exclude  studies,  yet  by  a  large  proportion  of  students  and  "old 
grads"  it  is  ranked  as  the  part  of  college  experience  which  is  really  fruit- 
ful in  preparing  for  the  practical  demands  of  life  when  college  days  are 
over.  Whether  this  judgment  is  valid  or  not,  it  may  easily  be  true  that 
many  a  student  reveals  the  quality  of  his  native  ability  more  clearly  in 
extra-curricular  activities  than  he  does  in  his  college  studies.  Ability 
is  most  accurately  measured  when  the  result  tested  is  the  product  of 
wholehearted  effort.  Since  in  extra-curricular  activities  the  student  is 
himself  the  judge  of  worth,  he  is  likely  to  "go  in"  only  for  those  pursuits 
which  appeal  to  his  interest  or  which  promise  to  yield  results  which  are 
satisfying,  such  as  esteem  of  classmates,  personal  glory.  Hence  the 
impulsion  to  activity  is  from  within  and  the  energy  called  forth  is  likely 
to  be  purposive  to  a  degree  which,  unfortunately,  is  seldom  matched  in 
the  scholastic  work  of  the  college. 

To  the  writer  it  seems  distinctly  worthwhile  to  discover,  if  possible,  to 
what  extent  extra-curricular  activities  and  success  are  prognostic  of 
success  in  later  life.  The  men  who  have  investigated  the  relationship 
between  success  in  college  and  success  in  after-life  usually  imply  and 
sometimes  state  the  conviction  that  their  findings  have  disproved  the 
belief  that  a  student's  prominence  in  undergraduate  extra-curricular 
activities  ofifers  an  index  of  his  probable  success  in  later  life.  Only  one 
of  these  writers  has  taken  the  trouble  to  investigate  the  foundation  of  this 
belief  of  the  rank  and  file  of  students  and  alimini,  as  opposed  to  the 
conviction  of  college  officials.  Nicholson,^  in  connection  with  his 
study  of  "College  Records  and  Distinction  in  Life,"  made  a  study  of  the 
relation  between  extra-curricular  success  and  Who's  Who  distinction. 
His  study  covers  ten  classes  of  Wesleyan  University  from  1890  to  1899, 
inclusive.  The  yearbook  published  by  the  junior  class  at  Wesleyan 
University,  Olla  Podrida,  has  a  well  defined  system  of  "points"  for  the 


1  Chapter  II.   For  details  of  the  latter  criterion,  see  summary  of  this  study, 
pp.  8-10. 

42 


Extra-Curricular  Activity  in  Relation  to  Income  43 

various  types  of  non-academic  achievement.  These  points  were  used 
by  Nicholson  as  the  criterion  for  measuring  distinction  in  extra-curricu- 
lar pursuits.  Membership  in  Who's  Who,  or  the  type  of  achievement 
which  would  entitle  one  to  such  mention  as  judged  by  classmates  or 
faculty,  was  the  standard  for  testing  distinction  in  life.  Using  these 
two  measures,  he  found  that  of  the  54  men  who  won  distinction 
from  their  classmates  while  imdergraduates,  18  or  one- third  attained 
noteworthy  success  in  after-life.  In  these  same  classes,  Nicholson  had 
fotmd  that  30  per  cent  of  the  men  who  achieved  the  scholastic  distinction 
of  election  to  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  won  the  type  of  distinction  in 
after-life  indicated  by  inclusion  in  Who's  Who  or  by  faculty  and  class- 
mates judgment  of  being  worthy  of  such  mention.  "In  other  words," 
says  Nicholson,  "the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  man  and  the  one  who  is  honored 
by  his  classmates  by  election  to  imdergraduate  office  have  each  approxi- 
mately the  same  chance  of  becoming  famous  in  after-life."  Nicholson's 
results  as  to  the  relation  between  high  scholarship  and  later  distinction 
have  been  widely  quoted.  Strange  to  say,  little  attention  seems  to  have 
been  given  to  the  fact  that  he  foimd  an  equally  close  relationship  be- 
tween non-academic  undergraduate  achievement  and  later  distinction. 

Another  study  of  extra-curricular  activities,  while  not  directly  com- 
parable because  it  deals  with  a  professional  group,  engineers,  should  be 
mentioned  here.  This  study  was  one  phase  of  the  investigation  carried 
on  by  the  Association  of  College  Registrars,  the  other  phase  of 
which  was  reported  in  Chapter  II.  The  men  whose  extra-scholastic 
activities  were  studied  had  been  rated  as  eminent  on  the  basis  of  ofl&ce 
holding,  membership  in  standing  committees,  or  service  as  representa- 
tives of  the  four  "founder"  engineer  societies  during  the  years  1915-1919. 
This  rating,  as  stated  by  Professor  Walters,  of  Lehigh  University,  who 
reports  the  investigation,  emphasizes  scientific  and  ethical  phases  of 
success. 

The  registrars  were  asked  to  report  specifically  on  activities  in  (a) 
athletics,  (6)  literary  and  engineering  societies,  and  (c)  social  organiza- 
tions. Returns  were  received  for  about  one-fifth  of  the  men  as  compared 
with  more  than  two-thirds  on  scholarship  rating.  The  ratings  used  were 
as  follows :  Under  athletics,  the  rating  A  was  assigned  to  men  who  won 
letters  in  major  sports;  B,  to  those  who  played  on  first  or  second  teams; 
C,  to  those  who  played  on  class  teams;  D,  to  those  who  took  some  part 
in  athletics;  E,  to  those  not  recorded  as  taking  any  part  in  athletics. 
Under  literary  and  engineering  societies,  A  was  given  to  those  who  held 
offices  or  served  on  editorial  boards  of  literary  and  engineering  journals; 
B,  to  those  who  were  active  in  the  societies  in  various  ways;  C,  to  those 


44 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


who  participated  moderately;  D,  to  those  who  held  membership;  E,  to 
those  with  no  record  in  such  activities.  A  similar  plan  was  followed 
for  rating  as  to  activity  in  social  organizations. 

The  following  table  shows  the  distribution  of  the  men  on  the  basis  of 
these  ratings. 

TABLE  XXIX 
Eminent  Engineers.    Extra-Scholastic  Activities 


Rating 

Athletics 

Literary  and 
Scientific 

Social 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

No. 

Per  Cent 

A 

24 

14 

19 

4 

117 

13.5 
7.9 

10.6 
2.2 

65.7 

59 
19 
22 
22 
65 

31.5 
10.2 
11.8 
11.8 
34.7 

44 
11 
50 
10 
56 

25.7 

B 

C 

D 

E 

6.4 
29.3 

5.8 
32  7 

Total 

178 

187 

171 

Professor  Walters  summarizes  the  results  as  follows :  ^ 

"According  to  the  table,  two-thirds  of  the  men  upon  whom  reports 
were  made  did  not  take  part  in  athletics,  a  proportion  probably  true  for 
all  college  students  in  earlier  days.  Of  those  who  did  take  part,  the 
results  show  the  largest  percentage  of  men  in  the  A  rating — good 
athletes. 

"According  to  the  table,  about  two-thirds  of  the  men  upon  whom  re- 
ports were  made  took  part  in  literary  and  engineering  society  activities; 
of  these  the  largest  percentage  were  in  the  A  rating — were  energetic  in 
their  activities  along  these  lines. 

"According  to  the  table,  about  two-thirds  of  the  men  upon  whom  re- 
ports were  made  took  part  in  social  affairs.  The  largest  percentage 
were  moderately  active;  the  next  largest  percentage  were  energetically 
active. 

"Conclusions  cannot  safely  be  drawn  from  these  extra-scholastic 
figiures.  The  relatively  small  number  of  participants  and  the  meager  in- 
terest in  athletics  in  the  era  represented  preclude  generalization  as  to 
the  influence  of  athletics,  particularly  as  applied  to  present-day  college 
life  when  success  in  sports  is  so  widely  sought  and  so  highly  rewarded." 

The  writer  of  this  monograph  has  made  a  further  study  of  the  relation- 

1  Walters:  "The    Scholastic    Training    of    Eminent    American    Engineers," 
School  and  Society,  Mar.  12,  1921. 


Extra-Curricular  Activity  in  Relation  to  Income  45 

ship  between  extra-curricular  attainment  and  success  in  life,  using  as 
subjects  the  members  of  the  class  of  1903  in  six  of  the  cooperating  col- 
leges listed  in  Chapter  III.  The  first  and  most  serious  difficulty  in 
attempting  such  an  investigation  lies  in  obtaining  a  valid  measure  of 
success  in  extra-curricular  pursuits.  So  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able 
to  discover,  college  officials  have  until  very  recently  made  no  record  of 
such  achievements.  The  only  records  available  for  the  class  of  1903  are 
to  be  found  in  student  yearbooks  in  which  are  recorded  by  the  students 
the  extra-curricular  activities  of  the  seniors  throughout  their  college 
course:  membership  in  various  organizations,  class,  athletic,  literary, 
musical,  forensic,  dramatic  or  social ;  offices  held  and  honors  won.  The 
completeness  of  this  record  differs  greatly  from  college  to  college.  The 
lack  of  uniformity  in  activities  represented  and  the  difference  in  the 
significance  of  membership  in  certain  types  of  organizations  in  different 
colleges,  as  well  as  this  variation  in  the  completeness  of  the  records, 
make  these  student  yearbooks  a  rather  unsatisfactory  basis  for  measur- 
ing activity  and  success  in  extra-curricular  pursuits.  They  furnish, 
however,  the  nearest  approach  to  an  objective  measure,  and  contain,  in 
fact,  the  only  available  record  of  such  activities.  They  have,  therefore, 
been  used  by  the  writer  as  a  basis  for  rating  extra-curricular  success  in 
an  attempt  to  measure  the  relationship  between  this  type  of  under- 
graduate achievement  and  success  in  vocation  as  measured  by  income. 

Student  yearbooks  containing  the  records  of  the  class  of  1903  were  se- 
cured from  six  of  the  cooperating  colleges  listed  in  Chapter  III.  From 
these  books  tabulations  were  made  for  each  college  separately,  showing 
for  each  member  of  the  class  the  activities  recorded,  offices  held,  and 
honors  won.  Because  of  the  variations  among  the  colleges  as  to  com- 
pleteness of  data,  number  and  type  of  activities  represented,  and  signi- 
ficance of  given  activities,  there  was  no  attempt  to  equate  directly  the 
records  of  non-scholastic  activities  in  the  different  colleges.  Inspection 
of  the  records  forced  the  conviction  that  any  attempt  to  apply  a  point 
system,  for  example,  without  intimate  knowledge  of  the  undergraduate 
life  of  every  college  included  in  the  investigation  would  simply  lead  to  a 
spurious  appearance  of  objectivity.  Recourse  was  therefore  had  to  the 
method  of  ranking  each  individual  with  reference  to  his  relative  position 
among  his  classmates  as  to  range  and  intensity  of  extra-curricular 
activity  and  the  winning  of  non-academic  honors.  A  given  rank  was 
then  treated  as  of  equal  value,  regardless  of  the  college  represented. 

It  was  also  apparent  that  without  this  intimate  knowledge  of  student 
life  in  a  particular  college  it  was  hazardous  to  attempt  a  gradation  of  the 
extra-curricular  success  of  the  members  of  a  class  on  a  fine  scale  consist- 


46 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


ing  of  a  large  number  of  units.  This  was  especially  true  of  colleges 
whose  yearbooks  presented  rather  meagre  records  of  extra-curricular 
pursuits.  It  did  seem  possible,  however,  to  arrange  the  individuals  of 
any  given  college  class  in  an  order  of  meiit  series,  on  a  scale  from  1  to  5, 
without  danger  of  greatly  displacing  an  appreciable  number  of  persons 
from  their  true  positions  among  their  fellows.  This  method  was  there- 
fore followed.  Each  individual  was  assigned  a  rank  in  extra-curricular 
activities  which  represented  the  writer's  judgment,  based  on  student 
yearbook  records,  of  his  relative  position  among  his  classmates  on  a  scale 
from  1  to  5.  Those  individuals  who  had  furnished  a  statement  of  in- 
come were  then  ranked  on  a  scale  from  I  to  5,  according  to  their  relative 
income  rankings  in  their  respective  vocations. 

The  paired  values  constituting  the  series  for  correlation  were  ranks 
on  a  scale  from  1  to  5,  representing  each  individual's  relative  position 
(1)  in  extra-curricular  achievement  among  his  classmates,  (2)  in  income 
among  the  members  of  a  given  occupational  group, — law,  teaching,  or 
business.  These  ranks  were  then  treated  as  amounts,  and  the  coeffi- 
cient of  correlation  calculated  by  the  Pearson  formula 

'%  X  .  y 


\/x  "•  V  V  - 

This  calculation  yielded  a  coefficient  of  correlation  for  men  of  .21  ±.04 
based  on  190  cases  drawn  from  all  vocational  groups  which  were  large 
enough  to  furnish  income  comparisons.  The  correlation  for  women, 
based  on  47  cases,  was  .3li.08. 

Correlations  calculated  by  this  method  for  each  of  the  chief  occupa- 
tional groups  yield  the  results  shown  in  Table  XXX. 

TABLE  XXX 

Correlations  Between  Rank  in  Income  and  Rank  in  Extra-Curricular 
Activity  Based  on  College  Yearbook  Records 


Occupation 

r 

P.  E. 

Number  of 
Individuals 

Teaching 

.19 

.09 

46 

Business 

.32 

.08 

51 

Law 

.28 

.11 

29 

Medicine 

.12 

.13 

24 

Engineering 

.15 

.15 

18 

Ministry 

.36 

.17 

11 

All  Occupations 

Men 

.21 

.04 

190 

Women 

.31 

.08 

47 

Extra-Curricular  Activity  in  Relation  to  Income  47 

The  result  of  this  crude  measurement  of  relationship  between  extra- 
curricular success  and  income  twelve  years  after  graduation  is  the  posi- 
tive but  small  correlation  for  all  occupations  (men)  indicated  by  an  r  of 
.21  ±.04  based  upon  a  sufficient  number  of  cases  to  give  it  statistical 
reliability.  It  also  suggests  that  for  certain  occupations,  notably  the 
ministry,  business,  and  law,  the  relationship  possibly  tends  to  be  closer 
than  that  found  for  all  occupations,  as  indicated  by  r=  .36 ±.17  for  the 
ministry,  r--  .32±.08  lor  business,  and  r  =  .28±.ll  for  law.  In  general, 
however,  the  P.E.'s  of  these  coefficients  are  large.  Only  in  the  case  of 
business  does  the  relative  size  of  the  P.E.  and  the  coefficient  of  correla- 
tion satisfy  fully  the  statistical  requirements  for  reliability.  The  other 
coefficients  vary  in  statistical  reliability  and  the  variations  in  their  size 
may  be  without  real  significance. 

In  order  to  make  a  comparison  between  the  value  of  scholarship  and  of 
extra-curricular  attainment  as  bases  for  the  prognosis  of  future  success 
as  measured  by  income,  it  was  necessary  to  calculate  coefficients  of  cor- 
relation between  scholarship  and  income  by  the  same  method  as  that 
used  in  securing  the  correlations  between  extra-curricular  achievement 
and  income.  The  procedure  was  as  follows.  Each  individual  was  rank- 
ed as  to  scholarship  on  a  scale  from  1  to  5,  according  to  his  relative 
scholastic  position  in  the  class  as  a  whole.  He  was  then  ranked  on  a 
scale  from  1  to  5,  according  to  his  relative  income  position  within  his  vo- 
cational group.  These  two  rankings  for  each  individual  constituted 
the  paired  values  for  the  correlation  series.  The  method  used  in  com- 
puting the  coefficients  was  the  same  as  that  described  for  the  measure- 
ment of  the  relation  between  extra-curricular  achievement  and  income. 
The  coefficients  obtained  were  .11±.05  for  men  and  — .08±.09  for 
women. 

Comparing  these  coefficients  with  those  obtained  for  extra-curricular 
achievement,  we  find  the  correlation  for  a  composite  of  all  occupations 
almost  twice  as  large  for  extra-curricular  achievement  and  income  as 
for  scholarship  and  income,  i.e.,  .21  ±.04  as  against  .11±.05.  Table 
XXXI  shows  comparatively  the  co  fficients  for  the  two  sets  of  facts 
for  each  of  the  larger  occupational  groups.  It  will  be  noted  that  for 
all  occupations  except  law  and  the  ministry  the  correlations  between 
extra-curricular  success  and  income  are  higher  than  the  correlations 
between  scholarship  and  income.  The  difiference  is  very  marked  in  the 
case  ot  business. 

It  was  the  writer's  original  purpose  to  supplement  the  measurements 
just  reported,  by  measuring  the  extent  of  agreement  between  class- 
mates' and  college  officials'  judgments  of  vocational  success  and  the 


48 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


TABLE  XXXI 

Comparison  of  Closeness  op  Relationship  Betaveen  Extra-Curiucular 
Achievement   and   Income,    and   Scholarship  and   Income 


Occupation 


Teaching 

Business 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering 
Ministry 


All  Occupations 

Men 

Women 


Extra-Curricular 

Achievement 

and  Income 


Scholarship  and 
Income 


.19 
.32 
.28 
.12 
.15 
.36 


.21 
.31 


P.  E. 


.09 
.08 
.11 
.13 
.15 
.17 


.04 
.08 


.11 
.03 
.58 
.21 
.25 
.40 


.11 
—  .08 


P.  E. 


.09 
.08 
.07 
.13 
.16 
.17 


.05 
.09 


%come  measure  here  used,  and  also  the  relation  betw^een  classmates' 
and  college  officials'  judgments  of  extra-curricular  success  and  the  rat- 
ings given  by  the  writer  on  the  basis  of  yearbook  records.  It  proved, 
however,  extremely  difficult  to  secm-e  such  judgments.  Not  only  was 
the  required  task  a  difficult  and  laborious  one  at  best,  but  those  who 
were  asked  to  make  the  ratings  usually  felt  that  they  had  not  intimate 
enough  knowledge  of  the  careers  of  their  classmates  or  former  students 
to  make  any  sort  of  a  fair  comparative  rating.  Those  altruistic  men 
and  women  who  undertook  the  task  did  so  in  every  case  with  expressions 
of  doubt  as  to  the  accuracy  of  their  judgments,  especially  in  the  matter 
of  present  vocational  success.  This  was  true  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  judges  had  been  very  carefully  selected  with  reference  to  their  prob- 
able opportunities  for  keeping  in  intimate  touch  with  the  careers  of 
their  classmates  and  former  students.  A  few  ratings  by  classmates  were 
secm-ed,  however,  and  one  rating  by  a  former  dean.  The  data  thus 
secured  are  not  adequate  for  any  conclusive  evidence  on  the  points  in 
question.  The  measurements  based  upon  them  are  presented  with  a 
clear  realization  of  their  unavoidable  crudities  and  their  numerous 
sources  of  unreliability.  The  results  are  suggestive  of  possible  trends 
only  in  connection  with  the  remainder  of  the  study. 

The  directions  for  ranking  which  accompanied  the  explanatory  letter 
sent  to  the  judges,  were  as  follows: 

'  Directions  ihdr  Ranking 

In  column  I,  place  opposite  each  name  a  number  which  represents  that  in- 
dividual's rank  in  the  class  on  the  basis  of  general  all-round  promise  while  a  stu- 
dent. The  individual  ranking  highest  should  be  marked  1,  the  next  highest  2, 
and  so  on.  Any  two  or  more  judged  to  be  equal  in  rank  may  be  given  the  same 
ranking  number. 


Extra-Curricular  Activity  in  Relation  to  Income  49 

In  column  II,  rank  as  above,  on  the  basis  of  activity  and  success  in  extra-cur- 
ricular or  student  activities  while  in  college.  Rank  the  highest  individual  1; 
the  next  highest  2,  and  so  on. 

In  column  III,  rate  each  individual  for  present  vocational  success,  on  a  scale 
from  1  to  5.  Let  1  equal  eminently  successful  in  vocation;  2  very  successful;  3 
fairly  successful  or  an  average  success;  4  somewhat  below  average  success;  5  not 
successful,  that  is,  just  barely  getting  on.  In  cases  where  you  feel  that  success 
has  been  greatly  aided  by  social  position  or  hereditary  wealth,  please  indicate  the 
fact  by  (s)  or  (w)  after  the  rating  given. 

This  judgment  need  not  necessarily  be  based  on  earning  power.  Make  your  own 
definition  of  "vocational  success."  If  you  care  to  tell  me  what  factors  you  in- 
clude in  the  definition  I  should  be  glad  of  such  a  statement. 

An  alphabetical  list  of  the  class  was  furnished,  ruled  with  three  par- 
allel columns  for  the  appropriate  ratings  for  each  individual.  The  direc- 
tions for  ranking  were  rarely  followed  in  their  entirety,  however.  Some 
judges  ranked  their  classmates  in  promise  and  in  extra-curricular  success 
on  a  scale  from  1  to  5,  others  ranked  them  on  a  scale  of  1  to  10,  etc., 
while  an  occasional  judge  ranked  them  as  requested.  More  uniform 
results  would  probably  have  been  secured  if  all  rankings  had  been  called 
for  on  a  1  to  5  scale  basis.  In  order  to  make  the  ratings  comparable  the 
writer  reduced  the  rankings  obtained  to  such  a  five-point  basis.  For 
example,  where  ten  ranks  had  been  used,  ranks  1  and  2  were  called  1, 3 
and  4  were  called  2,  etc.  These  rerankings  were  used  in  all  cases  where 
rankings  by  different  judges  had  to  be  compared  or  combined. 

The  ratings  thus  reduced  to  a  1  to  5  rank  basis,  were  then  correlated, 
each  with  every  other,  with  scholarship  and  income,  also  reduced  to  a 
1  to  5  rank  basis,  and  with  the  author's  rating  upon  extra-curricular 
activities,  based  on  yearbook  records.  The  classmates'  ratings  used 
in  the  correlations  represent  the  average  of  the  judgments  of  two  or 
three  judges,  except  in  the  case  of  one  college  where  only  one  judgment 
was  available. 

The  method  of  correlation  used  was  that  described  on  page  46.  The 
calculations  were  made  for  each  college  separately,  and  then  combined 
by  the  method  described  in  Chapter  III,  page  36.  Table  XXXII 
presents  the  intercorrelations  of  the  measures  used. 

Since  only  one  set  of  judgments  of  a  college  ofl&cial  was  available 
the  measurements  based  on  these  judgments  are  presented  simply  as 
a  matter  of  record,  with  no  attempt  to  draw  conclusions  from  them. 
The  summary  which  follows  takes  no  account  of  these  measurements. 

The  calculations  based  on  the  judgment  of  one  college  dean  gave 

the  following  correlations: 

Dean's  Judgment  of  Vocational  Success  and  Rank  in  Scholarship     .  01+ .  09  n  =  49 
Dean's  Judgment  of  Vocational   Success  and  Extra-curricular 

Success  (Yr.  Bk.)_. ...— .54+.07  n  =  43 

Dean's  Judgment  of  Vocational  Success  and  Income 46+.11  rt  =  22 


50 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


TABLE  XXXII 

CORRBLATIONS    BBTWBKN    VARIOUS    MEASURES    OP    COLLEGE    SUCCESS    AND    OP 

Vocational  Success 


Men 


fW 


P.  E     Cases 


Women 


rw        P.E.    Cases 


Promise  and  Extra-curricular  Success  (C.J.) 

Promise  and  Extra-curricular  Success  (Yr.  Bk.) 

Promise  and  Scholarship  Rank 

Promise  and  Vocational  Success  (C.  J) 

Promise  and  Income 

Extra-curricular  Success   (C.  J.)  and  Extra-curri- 
cular Success  (Yr.  Bk.) 

Extra-curricular  Success   (C.  J.)  and  Scholarship 

Rank 

Extra-curricular  Success   (C.  J.)  and  Vocational 

Success  (C.  J.)--- 

Extra-curricular  Success  (C.  J.)  and  Income 

Extra-curricular  Success   (Yr.   Bk.)  and  Scholar- 
ship Rank 

Extra-curricular  Success  (Yr.  Bk.)  and  Vocational 

Success  (C.  J.) 

Extra-curricular  Success  (Yr.  Bk.)  and  Income 

Present  Vocational  Success  (C.  J.)  and  Scholarship 

Present  Vocational  Success  (C.  J.)  and  Income 

Income  and  Scholarship 


100 
163 
165 


81 
169 
84 
48 
193 


.63 
.32 
.36 
.54 

.22 


.35 

.72 

.21 

.04 
.32 
.24 
.24 
-.14 


154 
154 
155 
108 
43 


103 
46 

104 
38 
46 


NOTE:   C.  J.-Classmates  Judgment;  Yr.  Bk.-Year  Book  Rating.     Classmates'  judgment  of  Present 
Vocational  Success  includes,  in  the  case  of  married  women,  success  in  homemaking. 

The  nature  of  much  of  the  data  used  in  calculating  these  correlations 
is  too  unsatisfactory  and  the  method  too  crude  to  give  significance  to 
the  absolute  size  of  the  coefficients.  Considered  comparatively,  how- 
ever, the  trends  are  remarkably  consistent  and  suggest  the  probable 
reality  of  the  relationships  indicated.  At  least  they  suggest  the  de- 
sirability of  further  study  for  verification  or  negation  of  the  suggested 
trend. 

So  far  as  weight  may  be  given  to  these  coefficients  considered  com- 
paratively, they  serve  to  support  the  conclusion,  based  upon  the  measure- 
ment reported  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  that  the  relation  between 
vocational  success  and  extra-curricular  activity  is  somewhat  closer  than 
the  relationship  between  vocational  success  and  scholarship.  For  the 
.measurement  just  reported  this  holds  true  whether  we  measure  voca- 
tional success  in  terms  of  income  or  of  classmates'  judgments,  and 
whether  we  measure  extra-curricular  success  by  the  judgments  of 
classmates  twelve  and  one-half  years  after  graduation,  or  by  ratings 
based  on  class  yearbook  records. 

The  results  of  the  measurements  reported  in  this  chapter  do  not 
prove  that  college  life  contributes  more  to  vocational  success  than  does 


8AR8ARA.  CAUFORNIA 


Extra-Curricular  Activity  in  Relation  to  Income  51 

the  work  of  the  classroom,  and  that  therefore  college  life  is  the  thing 
and  studies  do  not  count.  It  only  shows  that  the  extra-curricular  ac- 
tivities and  success  of  the  student  probably  are  a  selective  agency  in 
discovering  the  kind  of  ability  which  will  later  achieve  vocational  success, 
and  that  these  activities  should  therefore  be  taken  into  account  in  any 
prognosis  of  such  success.  For  the  guidance  of  appointment  com- 
mittees and  educational  and  vocational  advisers  of  students,  it  is  im- 
portant that  these  findings  be  verified  and  that  the  variations  in  closeness 
of  the  relationships  for  different  occupations  be  investigated. 

RBIvATION  BETWEEN  RANK  IN  BOTH  SCHOLARSHIP  AND  EXTRA-CURRICULAR 
ACTIVITY  AND  RANK  IN  VOCATION 

"General  intelligence"  and  whatever  other  traits  are  specifically  meas- 
ured by  marks,  play  a  part  in  vocational  success.  Leadership,  executive 
ability,  energy — whatever  qualities  are  measured  by  extra-cmricular 
success — also  play  a  part,  perhaps  a  larger  part,  in  such  success.  It 
would  be  desirable  to  measure  the  relationship  between  vocational 
success  and  the  attainment  of  high  rank  in  both  scholarship  and  extra- 
curricular activities.  The  data  available  for  this  purpose  are  not  suffi- 
cient for  reliable  statistical  treatment.  A  tabulation,  however,  of  high 
ranking  men  and  low  ranking  men  on  the  basis  of  college  achievement 
in  both  measures,  and  the  income  ranks  of  these  men,  is  highly  interest- 
ing and  suggestive.     Such  a  tabulation  is  presented  in  Table  XXXIII. 

The  tendency  shown  here  suggests  the  tentative  conclusion  that  the 
individual  who  has  the  qualities  which  enable  him  to  distinguish  him- 
self in  both  scholarship  and  extra-curricular  piu^suits,  is  likely  to  rank 
well  above  the  average  of  his  classmates  in  his  vocation  twelve  and  one- 
half  years  after  graduation,  whether  his  success  be  measiu^ed  by  income 
or  by  the  judgments  of  his  classmates.  The  tendency  seems  almost 
equally  strong  at  the  other  end  of  the  scale,  for  the  men  who  rank  low 
in  college  by  both  measiu"es  seem  to  stand  low  in  vocational  achievement.  ^ 

^  The  rather  consistently  higher  rank  of  men  in  this  lower  group,  when  rated 
by  classmates'  judgment,  than  when  rated  by  income  is  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  only  two  judges  gave  any  rating  of  5,  and  a  number  gave  no  rating,  or 
almost  no  ratings  below  3. 


52 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


TABLE  XXXIII 

Vocational  Efficiency  Ranks  of  Men  Standing  High  in  Both  Scholarship 
and  extra-curricular  activity  and  of  men  rating  low  by  both 

Measures 


Scholarship 
Rank  1-5 

Extra-cur- 
ricular Rank 
C.J. 

Extra-cur- 
ricular Rank 
Yr.  Bk. 

Income 
Rank  in 
Occupational 
Group 

Vocational 

Success 

C.J. 

Occupa- 
tion 

1.5 
3 

1.5 

1 
1 

1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 

3 

1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
3 
2 
3 
3 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

1 

15. 

1 

2.5 

1 

2 

h 
B 
T 
T 
T 
L 
L 
L 
B 
E 
B 

5 

4.5 

5 

5 

4 

5 

4 

5 

4 

4 

4 

5 

5 

5 

4 

5 

5 

5 

4.5 

4.5 

3.5 

5 
4 
5 
5 
4 
4 
5 
4 
5 
5 
4 
5 
5 
4 
5 
5 
4 
5 
5 
5 

5 
3 
3 
2 
? 
3 
5 
5 
4 
5 
2 
3 
4 
5 
4 
4 
3 
4 
? 
4 

3 

3 

4 

3 

4 

3 

3 

3 

3 

? 

3 

3 

2 

3 

3 

2W. 

3 

3 

3 

3 

M 

B 

B 

B 

B 

M 

L 

L 

M 

L 

E 

B 

E 

T 

B 

B 

T 

B 

P 

T 

T-Teaching;  B-Business;  L-Law;  P-Medicine;  E-Engineering;  M-Ministry;  S.  W.-Sodal  position  or 
hereditary  wealth,  respectively,  have  in  the  opinion  of  the  judge  greatly  influenced  success. 


CHAPTER  V 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  COLLECE  COURSE  UPON  THE 
VOCATIONS  OF  COLLEGE  GRADUATES 

In  1910,  Frederick  P,  Keppel, '  then  dean  of  Columbia  College,  under- 
took an  investigation  to  discover  what  influence  the  college  course 
exerted  on  the  choice  of  the  life  careers  of  its  students.  His  subjects 
included  the  members  of  the  classes  of  1908,  1909  and  1910  of  Colum- 
bia and  Dartmouth  Colleges.  To  these  men  he  sent  a  questionnaire 
containing  the  following  questions:. 

Have  you  come  to  a  fairly  definite  decision  as  to  what  your  life  work  is  to  be? 

Nature  of  work? 

Was  the  decision  reached  before  entering  college? 

If  after  entering,  was  it  in  the  freshman,  sophomore,  junior,  or  senior  year,  or 
after  graduation? 

If  you  can  conveniently  do  so,  state  in  a  few  words  the  reason  for  your  decision. 

If  you  have  changed  one  fairly  definite  plan  for  another,  kindly  indicate  the  time 
of  change  and  the  reason  for  it. 

Of  the  800  men  addressed,  519  or  nearly  65  per  cent  replied.  The 
addresses  of  those  who  failed  to  reply  were  checked  up  roughly.  As 
to  the  reliability  of  the  conclusions  drawn  from  the  group  replying, 
Keppel  says,  "The  number  who  are  apparently  in  University  profes- 
sional schools  or  in  teaching  positions  make  it  clear  that  we  may  safely 
draw  our  conclusions  as  to  the  general  conditions  from  the  replies 
that  have  been  received,  provided  we  remember  that  the  proportion 
of  men  still  in  doubt  as  to  their  future  work  is  naturally  greater  in  the 
case  of  men  who  did  not  reply  than  in  that  of  those  who  did." 

He  found  that  all  but  26  of  the  men  who  replied  had  come  to  some 
decision  as  to  their  life  work.  As  to  the  time  of  choosing,  he  found 
that  of  the  493  who  had  made  up  their  minds,  216  had  reached  their 
decision  before  entering  college,  43  had  chosen  after  graduation,  208 
had  decided  during  the  college  course,  and  32  failed  to  specify  the  time 
of  choosing.  The  decisions  during  the  college  course  were  distributed 
as  follows:  freshman  year,  20;  sophomore  year,  38;  junior  year,  87; 
senior  year,  63.  Thirty- two  men  did  not  indicate  the  year  in  which 
their  decision  was  reached.  The  junior  year  appears  to  be  the  crit- 
ical time  of  decision  for  those  who  choose  their  vocation  during  the 
college  course.  Keppel  thinks  this  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that 
a  student's  twenty-first  birthday  is  more  likely  than  not  to  fall  in  his 
junior  year. 

*  "Occupations  of  College  Graduates  as  Influenced  by  the  College  Course," 
Educational  Review,  Dec.  1910. 

53 


54  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

The  second  question  considered  was,  what  were  the  reasons  which 
determined  the  plans  of  these  five  hundred  young  men  as  to  what  they 
would  do  with  their  lives,  and  in  particular,  just  what  did  their  college 
experience  have  to  do  with  the  decision?  A  number  of  those  replying 
gave  no  reason  for  their  decisions  and  some  gave  more  than  one  reason. 
In  checking  up  the  answers  the  investigator  apportioned  these  pro 
rata  so  that  the  answers  represent  not  only  whole  votes  but  one-half 
and  one-third  votes. 

Keppel  says  that  more  than  halt  the  reasons  offered  were  not  very 
illuminating,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  form  of  the  question  put. 
The  reasons  offered  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Work  likely  to  be  congenial 84 

Best  fitted  for  this  work 57 

Path  of  least  resistance 23 

Opportunity  for  service 35 

Career  offering  wide  opportunities 24 

Chance  for  outdoor  life 16 

Liked  sample  got  in  summer 19 

Opening  up  of  specific  opportunity 27 

Example  of  parents  or  other  relatives 52 

Financial  reward,  immediate  or  prospective 23 

In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  college  was  not  mentioned  as  a 
factor  in  the  choice,  and  several  men  specifically  stated  that  their 
college  career  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  plans  for  the  future. 
Keppel  thinks  that  the  college  may  take  some  credit  for  the  group  who 
ofifered  as  a  reason  for  choice,  "opportunity  for  service"  or  "career 
with  wide  opporttmities."  The  references  to  undergraduate  activities 
were  scattering,  but  the  investigator  says  that  there  were  enough  of 
them  to  offer  one  more  argument  for  paying  attention  to  these  activi- 
ties as  an  integral  part  of  the  educational  equipment  of  the  college. 

Eighty-seven  men,  or  16  per  cent  of  those  replying,  changed  their 
plans  diuring  the  college  course.  Specific  reasons  for  the  change  were 
given  in  70  cases,  but  only  30  of  these  made  any  mention  of  the  college 
career.  Five  changes  were  due  indirectly  to  college  influence.  For 
example,  one  man  decided  to  enter  the  ministry  as  the  result  of  a  visit 
to  Northfield,  another  decided  to  become  a  lawyer  instead  of  a  doctor 
because  of  success  in  college  debating.  Still  another  gave  up  his  plans 
to  be  a  teacher  because  college  instructors  impressed  him  as  being 
singularly  remote  from  the  affairs  of  real  life.  Sixteen  of  the  men 
changed  their  plans  because  they  disliked  the  samples  they  got  in  col- 
lege of  the  work  required  in  their  chosen  callings.  Only  twenty-five 
changed  because  of  the  direct  influence  of  some  college  subject.     . 


Influence  of  the  College  Course  55 

Keppel  concludes  that  a  large  proportion  of  boys  have  decided  upon 
a  vocation  before  entering  college  and  that  college  officials  are  not 
using  this  fact  as  they  might  to  focus  the  student's  interest  in  the  sub- 
jects which  form  the  broad  foundation  for  his  work  or  those  which 
lead  directly  to  it.  In  the  case  of  those  students  who  have  not  decided 
upon  a  life  career  before  entering  college,  the  college  is  missing  its 
opportunity  to  stimulate  and  guide  them  in  this  important  choice. 

Keppel's  study  covers  men  who  at  the  time  of  the  investigation  had 
just  graduated  from  college,  or  had  been  out  from  one  to  two  years 
only.  It  does  not  reckon,  therefore,  with  the  instability  of  "choice" 
based  upon  chance  factors,  which  are  likely  to  cause  changes  in  occu- 
pation one,  two,  three,  five  or  ten  years  after  graduation.  The  writer 
of  this  monograph  made  a  study  similar  in  certain  features  to  that  of 
Keppel,  but  based  upon  the  records  of  men  and  women  who  had  been 
out  of  college  for  twelve  and  a  half  years — presumably  long  enough  to 
have  found  their  vocational  level.  The  specific  questions  investigated 
were: 

1.  When  did  these  men  and  women  choose  their  occupations? 

2.  What  reasons  determined  their  initial  occupations? 

3.  What  proportion  have  remained  in  the  initial  occupation  entered  upon  grad- 
uation and  what  proportion  have  changed  their  occupations? 

4.  How  are  these  changes  distributed  among  the  larger  occupational  groups? 

5.  What  reasons  are  assigned  for  change  of  occupation? 

TIME  OF  CHOOSING  OCCUPATIONS  BY  COLLEGE  STUDENTS 

The  first  question  considered  in  studying  the  influence  of  the  college 
upon  the  determination  of  its  students'  life  careers,  was  the  time  when 
students  choose  their  vocations.  If  the  vocation  is  chosen  before 
entering  college,  manifestly  the  college  has  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
decision.  If  the  choice  is  made  during  the  college  course,  it  is  more 
probable,  though  by  no  means  certain,  that  the  college  has  contributed 
to  the  decision.  If  it  is  made  after  graduation  it  is  probable  that  the 
college  has  not  influenced  the  decision  in  any  large  measure. 

Among  the  questions  sent  to  the  members  of  the  class  of  1903  in 
the  cooperating  colleges,  were  the  following: 

Did  you  choose  a  vocation  before  entering  college? 

During  the  college  course? 

After  graduation? 

Was  this  chosen  vocation  your  present  one?    If  not,  what  was  it? 

To  these  questions  260  men  and  136  women  responded.  Their 
answers  are  summarized  in  Table  XXXIV  and  grouped  according  to 
occupations.  The  comparison  between  results  for  different  occupations 
is  one  of  the  interesting  features  which  Table  XXXIV  offers. 


56 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eificlency 


TABLE  XXXIV 

Percentages  of  College  Graduates  Who  Chose  Their  Occupations 
AT  Specified  Times,  Distributed  According  to  Occupations 


Final 
Occupation 

Number  of 
Individuals 

Percentage  Choosing  Vocation 

Before 
Entering 

During 
Course 

After 
Graduation 

Before  Enter- 
ing and  After 
Graduation 

WOMEN 

Teaching 

Business 

Other  Occu- 
pations   

96 
16 

24 

51. 

37 

42 

25 
13 

33 

24 
50 

25 

75 
87 

67 

Totals 

136 

48 

25 

27 

75 

MEN 

Teaching 

Business . 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering .__. 

Ministry 

Other  Occu- 
pations  

64 
65 

34 
33 
25 
13 

26 

45 
23 
65 
61 

44 
77 

35 

36 
29 
23 
39 
36 
23 

38 

19 
48 
12 

0 
20 

0 

27 

64 
71 
77 
61 
64 
77 

62 

Totals 

260 

44 

33 

23 

67 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  136  women  included  in  this  group 
represent  a  sampling  of  those  who  have  remained  unmarried  and  are 
engaged  in  gainful  occupations  twelve  and  one-half  years  after  grad- 
uation. About  50  per  cent  of  the  women  graduates  of  the  class  of 
1903  are  married,  and  many  of  these  women  were,  before  marriage 
employed  in  gainful  occupations.  It  is  not  possible  to  say  whether  or 
not  the  relative  proportions  for  different  times  of  choosing  would  be 
affected  had  we  the  data  necessary  for  including  the  women  who  have 
been  withdrawn  from  paid  occupation  through  marriage. 

Table  XXXIV  shows  that  of  these  136  women  engaged  in  gainful 
occupations  twelve  and  one-half  years  after  graduation,  48  per  cent 
chose  their  occupations  before  entering  college,  27  per  cent  chose  their 
occupations  after  graduation,  and  only  25  per  cent  during  the  college 
course.  A  considerably  larger  proportion  of  teachers  than  of  business 
women  chose  their  occupations  before  entering  college.  Of  the  busi- 
ness group  50  per  cent  decided  on  their  occupations  after  graduation. 
The  other  occupational  groups  are  represented  by  too  few  individuals 
to  be  considered  separately. 

The  table  shows  that  44  per  cent  of  the  260  men  who  answered  this 
question  chose  their  occupation  before  entering  college.  This  is  about 
the  same  proportion  as  found  by  Keppel.     Twenty- three  per  cent  made 


Influence  of  the  College  Course  57 

their  decision  after  graduation — a  considerably  larger  proportion  than 
Keppel's  corresponding  group.  His  group,  however,  was  composed 
of  very  recent  graduates,  and,  as  he  suggests,  probably  does  not  in- 
clude a  large  number  of  those  men  who  had  not  yet  come  to  a  decision. 
Thirty-three  per  cent  chose  their  vocation  during  their  college  course — a 
somewhat  smaller  proportion  than  Keppel  found. 

Analysis  of  the  table  by  occupations  indicates  important  variations 
as  to  time  of  choosing  the  vocation.  Law,  medicine  and  the  ministry 
show  the  highest  percentages  of  choice  before  entering  college. 
Teaching  stands  next,  but  well  below  the  other  three.  Business  shows 
the  lowest  percentage  of  choice  before  entering  college.  In  percent- 
age of  decisions  after  graduation,  business  holds  the  highest  rank, 
engineering  and  teaching  standing  second.  The  ministers  and  doc- 
tors had  all  made  their  decisions  before  graduation.  About  equal 
percentages  of  the  doctors,  teachers  and  engineers  chose  their  vocations 
during  their  college  course,  the  doctors  having  a  slightly  larger  percent- 
age than  the  other  two  occupations.  Business  stands  next,  followed 
by  law  and  the  ministry.  On  the  whole,  the  variations  in  percent- 
ages among  the  different  occupations  are  not  so  striking  for  the  men  who 
chose  their  vocations  during  their  college  course  as  for  those  who  chose 
before  entering  or  after  graduation.  In  no  occupation  does  the  per- 
centage choosing  during  college  rise  above  39  per  cent. 

In  general,  the  facts  revealed  in  this  study  agree  fairly  closely  with 
the  facts  reported  by  Keppel.  Both  studies  show  that  so  far  as  the  time 
of  choosing  the  occupation  may  be  used  as  a  criterion,  the  college  has, 
in  these  cases  at  least,  exerted  no  influence  upon  a  very  large  per- 
centage of  its  graduates. 

REASONS  ASSIGNED  BY  COIvLEGE  GRADUATES  FOR  ENTERING 
THEIR  INITIAL  OCCUPATIONS 

Taken  alone,  the  time  of  choosing  the  occupation  does  not  tell  us 
conclusively  what  part  the  college  has  played  in  the  graduate's  decision 
as  to  his  life  work.  The  choices  made  during  college  may  or  may  not 
have  been  influenced  by  the  student's  college  course.  In  an  attempt 
to  discover  what  reasons  actually  determined  the  student's  choice 
of  a  career,  the  following  question  was  included  in  the  question  blank 
sent  to  the  members  of  the  class  of  1903  of  eleven  colleges: 

"Upon  graduation  from  college  what  determined  your  first  occupation?     In- 
dicate by  checking  or  by  adding  to  the  appended  list: 
Chance  to  earn  for  further  study. 
Vocation  of  my  choice. 
Best  thing  that  offered. 
Experimenting — had  made  no  choice." 


58 


College  Achievement  and  Vocationa  Efficiency 


Replies  to  the  question  were  received  from  251  men  and  140  women. 
Their  answers  are  summarized  in  Table  XXXV. 

TABLE  XXXV 
Reasons  Assigned  por  Entering  Initial  Occupation 


Number 
of  Cases 

Percentage  of  Times 

Given  Reasons  Were 

Assigned 

Initial 
Occupation 

I 

Chance  to 

Earn  for 

Study 

II 

Vocation 

of 

Choice 

III 

Best  Thing 

that 

Offered 

IV 

Experiment- 
ing.   No 
Choice 

V 

Influence 
of  Parents 
or  Friends 

women 
Teaching 

Other  Occupations,-- 

113 

27 

1 
0 

61 

70 

20 
17 

7 
2 

7 
11 

Totals 

140 

1 

65 

20 

6 

8 

MEN 

Teaching 

Business 

Law  -  -  .  -            -  . 

68 
68 

28 
28 
19 
13 

27 

15 
11 

59 
18 
93 
100 
74 
92 
63 

17 

57 
7 

9 
12 

3 

Medicine-  --   . 

Engineering  -       -  ... 

26 

Ministry         _     

8 

Other  Occupations .-- 

6 

19 

9 

4 

Totals 

251 

8 

59 

25 

7 

2 

In  reading  Table  XXXV  for  women  it  should  be  recalled  that  this 
group  represents  only  about  one  half  of  those  whose  initial  occupation 
was  teaching.  The  other  half,  having  married,  were  not  included  in 
this  study  which  deals  only  with  paid  occupations.  For  the  women 
who  were  in  gainful  occupations  at  the  end  of  twelve  and  a  half  years* 
the  table  shows  that  a  little  less  than  1  per  cent  entered  their  first 
occupation  as  a  chance  to  earn  for  further  study.  "Choice"  was  as- 
signed in  65  per  cent  of  the  cases;  "best  thing  that  offered"  or  "ex- 
perimenting— had  made  no  choice,"  in  26  per  cent  of  the  cases;  "in- 
fluence of  parents  or  friends"  in  8  per  cent  of  the  cases.  Teaching 
is  the  only  specific  occupational  group  whose  size  is  large  enough  to 
offer  a  suggestion  as  to  the  trend  of  factors  influencing  choice.  The 
reasons  assigned  to  the  various  factors  by  the  teaching  group  do  not 
vary  markedly  from  those  assigned  by  the  group  as  a  whole. 

Examination  of  the  table  for  men  shows  that  8  per  cent  went  into 
their  first  occupation  as  a  means  of  earning  for  further  study;  59  per 
cent  gave  "choice"  as  the  reason  for  entering  their  initial  occupation, 
25  per  cent  took  the  best  thing  that  offered,  7  per  cent  were  experi- 
menting, 2  per  cent  were  determined  in  their  selection  by  the  influence 
of  parents  or  friends. 


Influence  of  the  College  Course  59 

Analysis  of  the  table  on  the  basis  of  initial  occupation  reveals  some 
interesting  variations.  "Chance  to  earn  for  further  study"  was  as- 
signed by  15  per  cent  of  the  men  who  entered  teaching,  and  by  11  per  cent 
of  the  men  who  entered  business  as  their  fiist  occupation.  "Choice" 
was  assigned  by  59  per  cent  of  the  men  whose  initial  occupation  was 
teaching,  by  only  18  per  cent  of  the  men  whose  initial  occupation  was 
business,  by  more  than  90  per  cent  of  the  men  whose  initial  occupation 
was  law ,  medicine  or  the  ministry,  and  by  74  per  cent  of  those  whose 
initial  occupation  was  engineering.  "Best  thing  that  offered"  and 
"Experimenting — had  made  no  choice,"  taken  together  were  assigned 
by  26  per  cent  of  the  men  with  teaching  as  an  initial  occupation,  by 
69  per  cent  of  those  with  business  as  an  initial  occupation,  by  7  per  cent 
of  those  who  entered  law,  and  by  26  per  cent  of  those  who  entered 
engineering  as  their  first  occupation.  "Influence  of  parents  or  friends" 
was  not  included  in  the  checking  list  of  reasons  printed  in  the  ques- 
tionnaire. This  reason  was  specified,  however,  by  a  few  of  the  men 
with  business  or  the  ministry  as  an  initial  occupation.  This  reason 
doubtless  played  a  part  in  the  decisions  of  some  of  those  who  kept 
strictly  to  the  checking  list. 

Variations  in  the  percentages  for  law,  medicine,  and  the  ministry 
are  not  large  in  amount,  and  since  the  percentages  are  based  on  small 
numbers  of  cases  for  these  occupations,  the  variations  may  be  without 
significance.  Considering  all  occupations  comparatively,  however, 
there  is  a  marked  tendency  for  "choice"  to  predominate  as  a  reason 
for  entering,  as  the  initial  occupation,  vocations  which  require  extended 
preparation  beyond  graduation,  such  as  medicine,  law,  the  ministry, 
and  to  a  lesser  degree,  engineering.  This  result  is,  of  course,  to  be 
expected.  Teaching  and  business,  the  latter  in  particular,  show  much 
larger  percentages  drifting  into  "the  best  thing  that  offered,"  or  "ex- 
perimenting," having  made  no  choice.  This  tendency  of  college  grad- 
uates to  drift  into  teaching  and  business  because  they  have  made  no 
real  decisions  as  to  their  life  work  at  the  time  of  graduation,  is  familiar 
to  college  officials  who  have  been  concerned  with  the  vocational  place- 
ment of  students  about  to  graduate. 

Of  the  reasons  for  entering  the  initial  occupations  here  listed,  the 
college  could,  at  best,  claim  credit  only  for  "Choice"  and  possibly 
for  "Chance  to  earn  for  further  study,"  which  implies  a  deterred  but 
chosen  vocational  goal.  Elimination  of  these  two  reasons  leaves  a 
little  more  than  one-third  of  the  cases  for  both  men  and  women  det/er- 
mined  by  chance  opportunity,  pure  drifting,  experimentation  in  the 
absence  of  choice,  or  in  a  few  cases,  influence  of  parents  or  friends 


60  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

But  the  case  for  college  influence  is  not  so  good  as  these  proportions 
might  indicate.  In  the  first  place  there  is  no  assurance  that  the  college 
can  take  credit  for  any  large  proportion  of  these  "choices."  This 
fact  is  clear  from  Keppel's  study,  which  showed  that  of  the  men  who 
decided  on  a  life  career  during  college,  or  who  changed  their  plans  for 
a  life  career  during  college,  the  great  majority  either  did  not  mention 
the  college  or  actually  stated  that  their  college  career  had  nothing  to 
do  with  their  decisions. 

The  present  study  only  indirectly  throws  further  light  on  this  spe- 
cific question.  Here  and  there  a  graduate  explains  more  definitely 
why  he  chose  a  given  occupation  or  why  he  changed  his  original  deci- 
sion during  his  college  course.  ^  Sometimes  inference  as  to  the  reason 
for  the  choice  or  change  is  fairly  safe  from  the  answers  to  several  ques- 
tions taken  together.  There  is  too  little  uniformity  in  these  chance 
comments  to  give  them  statistical  worth,  but  as  one  reads  of  the  deci- 
sion during  college  to  give  up  a  tentative  choice  of  law  for  business  be- 
cause, "I  needed  to  get  money  quickly  to  get  married,"  and  coupled 
with  this,  "Went  into  business  on  graduation  with  a  friend  made  in 
college";  or  in  connection  with  choice  of  business  during  college  a  state- 
ment that,  "My  father  owns  the  business  and  wanted  my  jbrother  or 
me  to  continue  same  when  he  no  longer  could,"  etc.,  one  gradually  gets 
a  cumulative  impression  that  a  fair  proportion  of  the  changes  or 
choices  during  college  had  causes  other  than  the  college  curriculum. 
Extra-curricular  activities  evidently  played  some  part  in  choices  and 
changes.  Change  to  social  service  work  in  certain  cases  was  rather 
evidently  based  on  student  Y.  M.  C.  A.  activity.  In  one  case  a  man 
went  into  the  journalistic  field  as  a  result  of  experience  in  handling 
the  class  book  during  his  senior  year. 

Only  two  men  specifically  mention  the  influence  of  teachers  as  a 
reason  for  choosing  or  changing  the  vocational  plan.  One,  a  chemist, 
says,  "The  personal  popularity  of  a  professor  at  college  was  at  least  a 
strong  factor  in  inducing  me  to  take  up  chemistry.  Hence  I  went  to 
Tech  for  further  study."  The  other,  a  teacher,  states  that  his  change 
of  vocational  decision  from  law  to  teaching  during  his  senior  year  was 
in  part  due  to  the  influence  of  the  college  president  and  two  college 
teachers.  In  the  majority  of  cases  there  is  no  certain  means  of  know- 
ing from  the  statements  made  whether  or  not,  or  how  much,  the 
choice  or  change  was  influenced  by  the  college  career. 

1  In  reply  to  the  question,  "Was  this  chosen  vocation  your  present  one?  If 
not,  what  was  it?" 


Influence  of  the  College  Course  61 

Another  observation  seems  to  limit  further  the  scops  of  influence 
which  we  might  reasonably  ascribe  to  the  college  administration  for 
the  vocational  decisions  of  those  who  list  "choice"  as  the  reason  for 
entering  the  initial  vocation.  Study  of  the  table  showing  the  occupa- 
tional distribution  of  different  times  of  choosing  occupation  (page 
56),  indicates  that  those  occupations  which  furnish  the  largest  per- 
centages of  individuals  offering  "choice"  as  the  reason  for  their  initial 
occupation,  namely,  law,  medicine  and  the  ministry,  are  just  the  occu- 
pations which  furnish  the  largest  percentages  of  men  who  chose  their 
careers  before  entering  college. 

Again,  it  is  questionable  whether  we  should  credit  the  college  with 
any  large  share  in  the  vocational  goals  of  the  men  who  entered  their 
first  occupation  as  a  chance  to  earn  for  further  study  and  who  therefore 
presumably  had  a  vocational  goal.  Their  initial  occupations  were  usual- 
ly teaching  or  business.  In  a  later  section  it  will  be  shown  that  most 
of  these  men  eventually  went  into  law,  medicine,  the  ministry  or 
engineering — again  representing  fields  in  which  a  large  proportion  of 
the  men  had  chosen  their  careers  before  entering  college. 

The  results  of  this  study  of  the  reasons  which  influenced  the  initial 
occupations  of  the  class  of  1903  in  eleven  colleges  support  Keppel's 
conclusions  that  the  college  is  not  meeting  its  responsibility  and  op- 
portunity in  guiding  the  students  in  making  one  of  the  most  important 
decisions  of  life. 

FREQUENCY  OP  CHANGE  IN  THE   OCCUPATIONS  OP   C0LI<EGE 
GRADUATES 

It  was  shown  in  the  last  section  that  40  per  cent  of  the  college  men 
and  35  per  cent  of  the  college  women  considered  in  this  study  entered 
upon  their  initial  occupations  for  reasons  other  than  "choice."  If  in 
addition  to  this  fact  one  reflects  that  "choice"  may  mean  anything 
from  a  reasoned  decision  based  upon  known  facts  as  to  one's  own  abil- 
ities and  the  demands  and  opportunities  of  a  given  life  career,  to  such 
vague  leanings  as,  "Had  for  niany  years  wished  to  be  a  nurse,"  "Decid- 
ed when  a  small  child  to  be  a  teacher,"  "Had  always  planned  to  be  a 
teacher,"  "Father  had  taught,"  "Decided  to  be  a  teacher  the  first  day 
I  went  to  school,"'  there  will  be  little  surprise  if  it  be  found  that  there 
is  a  considerable  percentage  of  college  graduates  who  do  not  remain  in 
the  initial  occupation  which  they  enter   upon   graduation.     Just  how 

'  Sample  quotations  from  questionnaires  giving  "Choice"  as  the  reason  for 
changing  initial  occupation. 


62  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

much  change  does  occur  and  how  it  is  distributed  among  different 
vocations  is  the  subject  of  this  section. 

The  data  used  in  investigating  the  frequency  of  change  in  the  oc- 
cupations of  college  graduates  were:  (1)  the  initial  and  finar  oc- 
cupations of  the  1092  living  academic  graduates  (men)  of  the  classes 
of  1897  to  1902,  inclusive,  of  Bowdoin  College,  Colgate  and  Brown 
Universities,  and  the  818  graduates  (women)  of  the  classes  of  1898  to 
1901  of  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  and  1898  to  1900  of  Smith  College; 
(2)  the  initial  and  final  occupations  of  those  academic  graduates  of 
the  class  of  1903  (men  and  women)  in  the  cooperating  colleges  listed 
in  Chapter  III  for  whom  the  essential  data  were  available.  The  oc- 
cupational records  for  the  first  group  were  tabulated  from  the  latest 
alumni  catalogues  of  the  colleges  studied.  The  occupational  records 
of  the  second  group  were  tabulated  from  the  questionnaires  returned 
by  about  60  per  cent  of  the  men  and  women  of  the  class  of  1903  in  the 
cooperating  colleges,  supplemented  in  some  cases  by  the  alumni  re- 
cords. 

The  1092  men  included  in  the  first  group  had  been  out  of  college  for 
periods  of  from  10  to  17  years,  an  average  of  13.5  years,  the  latest 
bulletins  having  been  issued  for  Bowdoin  in  1912,  for  Colgate  in  1913, 
and  for  Brown  in  1914.  The  first  figures  reported  are  for  these  1092 
men. 

The  procedure  used  was  as  follows:  From  the  alumni  catalogues 
the  initial  or  first  occupation  entered  after  graduation  was  recorded 
for  each  man.  In  a  parallel  column  the  final  occupation  of  each  of 
these  individuals  was  entered.  The  individuals  were  tabulated  in 
groups  according  to  initial  occupation,  all  those  whose  initial  occupa- 
tion was  business  being  tabulated  in  one  group,  those  whose  initial  oc- 
cupation was  teaching  in  another  group,  and  so  on.  I^ater  these  same 
individuals  were  retabulated  according  to  final  occupations.  From 
these  two  sets  of  tabulations  the  percentages  of  constancy  and  change 
in  occupation  were  calculated.  In  Table  XXXVI,  which  presents 
these  percentages,  only  those  occupational  groups  are  recorded  which 
include  90  or  more  cases.  There  are  five  such  groups:  teaching,  busi- 
ness, law,  medicine,  and  the  ministry.  Table  XXXVI  also  shows 
the  percentage  of  men  engaged  in  each  of  these  occupations  at  the  end 
of  the  10-17  year  period  who  had  begun  their  vocational  careers  in 
a  different  occupation. 

Summarizing  the  facts  of  Table  XXXVI,  it  will  be  seen  that  for  the 
men  included  in  this  study,  teaching  easily  leads  all  other  fields  as  an 

'  Throughout  this  chapter  "final"  will  be  used  to  designate  the  occupation 
recorded  as  "present  occupation"  in  the  latest  obtainable  record. 


Influence  of  the  College  Course 


63 


TABLE  XXXVI 
Distribution  op  College  Men  According  to  Initial  and  Pinal  Occupation 

(10-17    YEARS   APTER   graduation).      PER    CENT   OP   CONSTANCY,    CHANGE 

AND  Gain  prom  Other  Occupations,  Vocationally  Distributed 


No.  in  Occupation 

Per  Cent  with 
Same  Initial 
and  Final 
Occupation 

Per  Cent  with 
Different  Init- 
ial and  Final 
Occupation 

Per  Cent  of 
Final  Group 

Initial 

Final 

Other  Occupa- 
tions 

Teaching 

Business 

Law 

Medicine 

Ministry 

343 

283 

156 

98 

93 

224 
304 
205 
113 
91 

60.6 
87.3 
96.8 
96.9 
91.4 

39.4 

12.7 

3.2 

3.1 

8.6 

7.7 
18  7 
26  3 
13.3 

6  6 

Totals 

973 

937 

80.7 

19.3 

16.1 

entering  occupation.  It  is  at  the  same  time  a  temporary  occupation 
for  college  graduates  to  a  higher  degree  than  any  other,  since  nearly 
40  per  cent  of  the  men  who  enter  it  upon  graduation  leave  it  for  other 
work  within  a  10-17  year  period.  Forty-four  per  cent  of  these  men 
who  left  teaching  used  the  profession  as  a  stepping-stone  to  other  pro- 
fessions, while  about  32  per  cent  went  into  business.  Teaching  not 
only  loses  a  large  percentage  of  its  entrants,  but  it  has  small  drawing 
power  for  men  who  begin  in  other  occupations.  Only  about  8  per  cent 
of  the  men  who  are  teachers  at  the  end  of  the  10-17  year  period  were 
recruited  from  other  occupations,  and  of  these  about  60  per  cent  began 
in  business.  Nevertheless,  despite  the  large  percentage  of  loss  and  the 
small  percentage  of  gain,  teaching  takes  second  place  as  an  occupation 
for  this  group  of  college  men  at  the  end  of  the  10-17  year  period. 

Whether,  and  how  much,  teaching  as  a  profession  suffers  from  the 
presence  of  such  a  large  number  of  vocational  transients,  is  a  question 
worthy  of  consideration.  It  could  only  be  answered  by  a  study  of  the 
comparative  teaching  success  of  those  who  entered  the  vocation  as  a 
temporary  occupation  and  those  who  expect  to  make  it  a  life  work. 
The  latter  group  is  far  from  homogeneous.  It  includes  men  of  little 
initiative,  who  simply  followed  the  line  of  least  resistance  into  the  oc- 
cupation whose  doors  open  most  readily  to  the  college  graduate,  men 
who  have  tried  unsuccessfully  business  or  some  other  field,  as  well  as 
gifted  men  whose  interest  in  teaching  was  strong  enough  to  oflfset  the 
temptation  to  larger  monetary  rewards  offered  by  other  fields.  Until 
teaching  as  a  profession  can  be  made  more  attractive  financially  to  able 
men,  it  may  be  that  as  a  nation  we  shall  profit  by  having  gifted  college 
graduates  give  two,  three  or  four  years  of  service  en  route  to  their  final 
vocations.     Some  of  these  men  for  one  reason  or  another  will  turn  aside 


64  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eijiciency 

from  their  original  goals  and  remain  teachers,  to  the  very  great  gain  of 
the  profession. 

Business  stands  second  as  an  initial  occupation  for  this  group  of 
college  men.  It  lost  12  per  cent  of  the  initial  entrants,  a  higher  per- 
centage than  that  sustained  by  any  other  occupation  except  teaching, 
whose  percentage  of  loss  is  three  times  as  great.  Nearly  one-half  of 
the  men  who  dropped  out  of  business  became  lawyers.  Rather  more 
than  half  of  them  became  teachers.  But  the  relatively  high  percentage 
of  loss  of  its  initial  entrants  which  business  sustained  is  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  its  gains  from  other  fields.  Of  the  men  whose  final 
occupation  is  business,  eighteen  and  three-fourths  per  cent  began  their 
careers  in  other  occupations.  This  surplus  of  gains  over  losses  is  sujBi- 
cient  to  place  business  in  the  first  rank  as  a  final  occupation  for  col- 
lege men. 

Law,  medicine,  and  the  ministry  stand  numerically  third,  fourth,  and 
fifth  in  the  order  named,  in  both  the  initial  and  the  final  groupings. 
Law,  while  showing  a  very  small  percentage  of  loss,  3.2  per  cent,  from 
its  initial  group,  has  taken  in  the  final  group,  first  place  in  the  percentage 
recruited  from  other  occupations,  having  gained  26  per  cent  of  its 
numbers,  mainly  from  teaching  and  business.  Medicine  shows  about 
the  same  small  percentage  of  loss  from  its  initial  group,  3.1  per  cent, 
and  also  shows  a  high  percentage  of  gain  from  other  occupations,  13.2 
per  cent,  mainly  from  teaching  and  business.  The  ministry  is  not  only 
lowest  numerically  in  the  list  of  occupations  for  college  graduates,  but 
its  drawing  power  as  a  final  occupation  is  even  lower  than  that  of  teach- 
ing— 6.6  per  cent.  At  the  same  time,  it  stands  third  in  rate  of  loss 
of  its  initial  entrants. 

The  second  table  for  men  (Table  XXXVII)  was  based  upon  data  as 
to  initial  and  final  occupations  drawn  from  the  questionnaires  returned 
by  men  of  the  class  of  1903  in  Bowdoin  College,  Brown  University, 
Dartmouth  College,  Johns  Hopkins  University,  the  University  of  Illinois, 
the  University  of  Missouri  and  Oberlin  College.  The  treatment  of  data 
was  the  same  as  that  used  for  the  group  reported  in  Table  XXXVI. 

The  relative  order  of  professional  groups,  as  indicated  inTable  XXXVII, 
shows  no  marked  differences  from  that  shown  in  Table  XXXVI,  which 
presents  the  same  facts  for  a  different  group  of  college  men,  except  that 
the  ministry  is  displaced  by  engineering  for  fifth  place  in  the  list.  Busi- 
ness shares  with  teaching  the  first  place  as  an  initial  occupation,  however, 
instead  of  taking  second  place,  and  medicine  shares  third  place  with 
law.  These  latter  differences  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  Table  XXX- 
VII  was  tabulated  from  the  records  of  those  men  who  replied  to  the 


Influence  of  the  College  Course 


65 


TABLE  XXXVII 

Distribution  op  College  Men  Replying  to  Qi^stionnaire,  According  to  Initiai, 

AND  Final  Occupation  (12|  Years  after  Graduation).     Per  Cent  op 

Constancy,  Change  and  Gain  from  Other  Occupations 

Vocationally  Distributed 


Occupation 

No.  in 
Occupation 

Per  Cent  with 
Same  Initial 
and  Final 
Occupation 

Per  Cent  with 
Different 
Initial,  and 
Final 
Occupation 

Percent  of 
Final  Group 
Recruited  from 

Initial 

Final 

Other  Occu- 
pations 

Teaching- . 

69 
69 

28 
28 
20 
13 
30 

65 

68 
36 
31 
20 
13 
24 

81.1 
79.7 
92.9 

100 
95 

100 
83.3 

18.9 
20.3 

7.1 

0 

5 

0 
16.7 

13.8 

Business 

19.1 

Law .. 

27.7 

Medicine 

9.7 

Bngineering    ..  _ 

5 

Ministry. - 

0 

Other  Occupations^ 

16.6 

Totals 

257 

84.4 

15.6 

15.6 

'  Journalism  (8),  chemistry  (5),  research  (4),  forestry  (4),  social  service  and  religious  work  (2),farmingi2), 
librarian  (2),  government  service  (2),  architecture  (1). 

•  It  should  be  noted  that  this  is  the  final  distribution  of  those  replying  to  the  questionnaire.  The  final 
distribution  of  the  entire  group  is  given  in  Chapter  III,  Table  XV. 

questionnaire,  while  Table  XXXVI  was  based  upon  the  alumni  cata- 
logue records  of  all  men  in  the  classes  studied.  Reference  to  Table 
XV,  Chapter  III,  will  recall  the  fact  that  different  vocations  furnished 
different  percentages  of  replies  to  the  occupational  questionnaire  as 
follows:  Teaching  76.5  per  cent,  business  46.4  per  cent,  law  54.7  per 
cent,  medicine  59.3  per  cent,  engineering  65.4  per  cent,  ministry  61.9 
per  cent.  If  in  connection  with  these  percentages  of  replies  we  take  the 
percentages  of  change  among  those  who  did  reply  and  the  totals  of  the 
final  occupational  groups  as  given  in  Table  XV,  Chapter  III,  the  ques- 
tion is  left  indeterminate  as  to  whether  there  are  marked  differences 
between  business  and  teaching  as  initial  occupations,  since  each  has  a 
high  percentage  of  change. 

Since,  however,  law  and  medicine  show  relatively  small  percentages  of 
change,  and  since  law  shows  larger  absolute  numbers  in  the  final  group 
than  does  medicine  (66  as  against  54),  it  is  fairly  safe  to  infer  that  in 
this  group  of  college  men,  as  in  the  first  group  studied,  law  would  take 
third  place  as  an  initial  occupation.  Reference  to  the  same  data  for 
the  ministry  and  engineering  lead  to  the  inference  that  for  this  group  of 
college  men,  engineering  would  retain  its  lead  over  the  ministry  if  the 
facts  as  to  initial  occupations  were  available  for  all  the  men  of  the  class 
of  1903  in  the  cooperating  colleges. 

This  table  shows  the  same  relative  positions  for  the  different  voca- 


66  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eiflciency 

tions  as  final  occupations  for  college  men  as  did  Table  XXXVI,  with 
the  exception  that  engineering  has  displaced  the  ministry  for  fifth  place 
just  as  it  did  in  the  initial  occupational  distribution.  The  absolute 
nimibers  in  these  vocations  at  the  end  of  twelve  years  (Table  XV)  are 
as  follows:  Business  149;  teaching  83;  law  66;  medicine  54;  engineer- 
ing 39;  ministry  21. 

As  to  the  relative  amotmts  of  change  in  different  occupational  groups 
as  indicated  in  Table  XXXVII,  the  order  is  as  follows:  Business  20.3 
per  cent;  teaching  18.9  per  cent;  law  7.1  per  cent;  engineering  5  per  cent; 
medicine  and  the  ministry  0  per  cent.  The  only  difference  between 
Table  XXXVI  and  Table  XXXVII  as  to  relative  positions  in  per  cent 
of  change,  is  the  reversal  of  teaching  and  business  for  first  place. 
Whether  or  not  this  difference  is  due  to  the  differences  in  percentages 
replying  in  these  two  occupations,  we  have  no  way  of  discovering. 

In  order  of  percentages  recruited  from  other  occupations,  few  differ- 
ences are  noted  between  Table  XXXVII  and  Table  XXXVI.  In  both 
tables  law  stands  easily  first,  and  business  second  in  drawing  power.  In 
Table  XXXVII  teaching  and  medicine  reverse  the  places  held  in  Table 
XXXVI,  teaching  here  taking  third  instead  of  fourth  place  in  drawing 
power.  In  both  tables  the  ministry  stands  at  the  end  of  the  list  in 
this  respect. 

This  measurement  of  change  in  the  occupations  of  two  groups  of 
college  graduates  yields  results  for  the  two  groups  which  are  in  essential 
agreement.  While  the  actual  percentages  of  loss  and  of  gain  in  different 
occupations  do  not  agree  closely  for  the  two  groups  in  every  case,  the 
relative  ranks  of  the  occupations  (1)  as  initial  occupations  for  college 
graduates,  (2)  as  final  occupations,  (3)  as  to  amount  of  change  from 
initial  to  final  occupations,  and  (4)  as  to  gains  from  other  occupations, 
remain  practically  the  same. 

The  study  of  frequency  of  change  in  occupation  for  college  women 
covers  two  groups  of  graduates.  The  first  includes  the  818  living  grad- 
uates of  the  classes  of  1898  to  1901,  inclusive,  of  Mt.  Holyoke  College 
and  the  classes  of  1898  to  1900,  inclusive,  of  Smith  College.  The  data 
for  this  group  were  tabulated  from  the  latest  alumni  catalogs — 1910  for 
Smith  and  1911  for  Mt.  Holyoke.  The  final  record,  therefore,  covers 
a  period  of  from  10-13  years  from  the  time  of  graduation.  The  second 
group  comprises  the  women  of  the  class  of  1903  in  the  cooperating  col- 
leges. Table  XXXVIII  gives  the  essential  facts  for  the  first  group  of 
818  women. 


Influence  of  the  College  Course 


67 


TABLE  XXXVIII 
Distribution  op  Collegb  Women  According  to  Initial  and  Final  OcctrPATiON 

(10-13    YEARS    AFTER    GRADUATION).       PER    CENT   OF    CONSTANCY,    CHANGE 

AND   Gain  prom   Other   Occupations,    Vocationally   Distributed 


Occupation 

No.  in  Occupa- 
tion 

Percent 
with  Same 
Initial  and 

Per  Cent  of  Change  to 

Total 
Change 

Percent 
Recruited 

Other 
Gainful 
Occupa^ 
tions 

Mar- 
riage 

No 

Rec. 

Occ. 

from  other 

Initial 

Final 

Final  Oc- 
cupation 

Occupa- 
tions 

Teaching  .  . 

448 
17 
14 
18 

26 

209 
18 
14 
11 

23 

45.8 
47 

35.7 
44.4 

61.5 

5.4 
11.8 
14.3 

5.6 

15.4 

39 
35.3 
42.9 
44.4 

23.1 

9.3 
5.9 
7.1 
5.6 

0 

54.2 
53 
64.3 
55.6 

38.5 

1.9 

Business 

55.5 

See.  and  Relig.  ... 
Librarian.- .. 

64.3 
36.3 

Other  Gainful 
Occupations 

21.7 

Total  Gainful 
Occupations 

523 

275 

48 

6 

38 

8 

52 

12 

Marriage 

188 

389 

48 

52 

No  Recorded 
Occupation 

107 

152 

Analysis  of  Table  XXXVIII  shows  that  523  or  a  little  more  than  64 
per  cent  of  these  women  entered  some  gainful  occupation  after  gradua- 
tion; 188  or  about  23  per  cent  married  without  engaging  in  any  gainful 
occupation;  107  or  about  13  per  cent  had  neither  married  nor  engaged 
in  gainful  occupation  at  the  end  of  the  10-13  year  period.  Of  the  gain- 
ful occupations  teaching  is  by  far  the  largest  group,  including  448  wo- 
men or  nearly  86  per  cent  of  all  those  engaged  in  gainful  occupations. 

Of  the  523  women  who  entered  gainful  occupatilns  after  graduation, 
48  per  cent  were  engaged  in  the  same  occupation  and  52  per  cent  had 
changed  at  the  end  of  the  10-13  year  period.  Of  the  52  per  cent  who 
had  changed,  38  per  cent  had  married,  8  per  cent  had  no  recorded  oc- 
cupation, and  6  per  cent  were  engaged  in  other  gainful  occupations.  If 
we  use  as  a  base  the  322  women  who  were  not  married  during  the  period 
studied,  the  change  to  other  gainful  occupations  is  10  per  cent.  As 
to  variations  among  different  occupations  with  reference  to  amount 
of  change,  there  is  nothing  worthy  of  note.  Teaching  is  the  only 
occupational  group  large  enough  to  offer  significant  percentages  and 
these  percentages  differ  little  if  any  from  the  percentages  for  the 
entire  group. 


68 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


At  the  end  of  the  10-13  year  period  389,  or  about  48  per  cent,  of  these 
women  were  married,  152,  or  about  18  per  cent,  were  neither  married  nor 
engaged  in  gainful  occupations,  and  277  (including  2  students  who 
presumably  would  return  to  gainful  occupation),  or  about  34  per  cent, 
were  engaged  in  paid  occupations.  Of  this  working  group  209  or  76 
per  cent  were  teaching.  Of  these,  98  per  cent  had  begun  as  teachers  and 
2  per  cent  had  been  recruited  from  other  occupations.  The  percentages 
for  other  occupational  groups  are  based  upon  so  much  smaller  numbers 
of  cases  that  they  have  little  value  as  bases  of  comparison.  Taken  at 
their  face  value,  however,  they  indicate  that  teaching  loses  less  to  other 
occupations  and  gains  less  than  does  any  other  occupation. 

Table  XXXIX  presents  for  the  second  group  studied  the  facts  as  to 
initial  and  final  occupations,  constancy  and  change  in  occupation.  The 
data  were  tabulated  from  the  occupational  questionnaires  returned  by 
the  women  of  the  class  of  1903  of  Barnard,  Mt.  Holyoke,  Goucher,  and 
Oberlin  Colleges,  the  University  of  Illinois  and  the  University  of  Mis- 
souri. 

TABLE  XXXIX 

Distribution  of  College  Women  (Members  of  the  Class  of  1903  for  Whom  the 
Necessary  Data  were  Available),  According  to  Initial  and  Final  Occu- 
pations. Per  Cent  of  Constancy,  Change  and  Gain  From  Other 
Occupations 


No.  in 

Occn- 

Per  Cent  with 
Same  Initial 
and  Final  Occu- 
pation 

Per  Cent  of  Change 

Per    Cent 
Recruited  from 
other  Occu- 
pations 

other 
Gain- 
ful 
Occ. 

Mar- 
riage 

Total 
Change 

Occupation 

Initial 

Final 

Teaching  _- 

223 

99 

42 

10 

48 

58 

5 

Other  Gainful 
Occupations 

39 

42 

48 

18 

33 

52 

57 

Total  Gainful 
Occupations 

262 

141 

43 

11 

46 

57 

20 

Married 

64 

184 

34 

66 

No  Recorded 
Occupations 

44 

59 

Influence  of  the  College  Course  69 

Table  XXXIX  shows  the  same  general  characteristics  for  this  group 
of  women  as  were  revealed  by  the  study  of  the  first  group.  About  70 
per  cent  entered  some  gainful  occupation  upon  graduation,  85  per  cent 
of  this  number  becoming  teachers.  A  little  more  than  17  per  cent 
married,  without  entering  gainful  occupations  and  12  per  cent  had 
neither  married  nor  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  after  graduation. 

At  the  end  of  the  period  studied,  48  per  cent  were  married,  a  little 
less  than  37  per  cent  were  engaged  in  paid  occupations  (about  71  per 
cent  of  these  were  teachers)  and  about  15  per  cent  were  neither  mar- 
ried nor  engaged  in  paid  occupations.  Of  the  initial  group  57  per  cent 
changed  their  occupations,  46  per  cent  for  marriage  and  1 1  per  cent  for 
other  gainful  occupations.  Teaching  is  by  far  the  largest  of  the  voca- 
tional groups  both  as  an  initial  and  as  a  final  occupation.  Its  loss  to 
other  occupations  is  about  twice  its  gain  from  other  occupational  fields. 

This  study  of  change  in  the  occupations  of  college  graduates,  men 
and  women,  takes  account  only  of  initial  and  final  occupations.  A 
complete  record  would  take  account  of  all  changes  between  graduation 
and  the  date  of  investigation.  It  was  not  possible  to  base  the  measure- 
ment upon  such  a  record  because  of  the  incompleteness  of  the  avail- 
able data.  Where  complete  records  for  individual  groups  are  avail- 
able they  suggest  that  the  amount  of  occupational  turnover  is  far  greater 
than  our  figures  show.  Not  infrequently  there  are  one,  two,  and 
occasionally  three  or  more  changes  intervening  between  the  initial  and 
final  occupations.  The  measurement  we  have  used,  records  for  the 
individual  one  change  only.  In  other  cases  experimentation  has  oc- 
curred which  is  not  registered  at  all  in  our  tabulations,  because  the  in- 
dividual's groping  for  vocational  equilibrium  finally  led  back  to  the 
initial  occupation.  The  following  instances  will  illustrate  this  group  of 
cases:  (1)  Business  one  year,  teacher  seven  years,  business;  (2)  teacher 
one  year,  business  two  years,  teacher;  (3)  teacher  two  years,  farmer 
four  years,  teacher;  (4)  business  one  year,  law  five  years,  business. 

It  would  be  a  difl&cult  task  to  measure  the  extent  to  which  these 
changes  in  occupation  have  affected  or  will  affect  the  success  of  the 
individuals  concerned.  Undoubtedly  the  individuals  who  have  not 
changed  their  occupations  do  not  represent  a  homogeneous  group, 
Some  of  them  entered  the  occupation  because  of  reasoned  choice, 
some  drifted  in,  found  the  work  congenial  and  stayed,  some  drifted  in 
because  of  chance  circumstances  and  had  not  push  enough  to  get  out 
when  they  foimd  the  occupation  imsuited  to  them  or  were  financially 
imable  to  start  in  a  new  field.  The  group  which  has  changed  is  not 
more  homogenous.     Changes  are  few  or  many,  have  taken  place  all 


70 


College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 


the  way  from  one  year  to  twelve  years  after  graduation,  and  represent 
all  degrees  of  relationship  and  lack  of  relationship  to  the  preceding  oc- 
cupations. It  is  probably  safe  to  assume  that  so  much  vocational 
drifting  must  represent  an  unwarranted  waste  of  human  energy  and 
social  effectiveness. 


REASONS   FOR  CHANGE    IN  THE  OCCUPATIONS  OF   COIvL,EGE    GRADUATES 

As  a  basis  for  determining  the  reasons  for  change  in  the  occupations 
of  college  graduates,  the  following  question  was  included  in  the  occupa- 
tional questioimaire  sent  to  the  graduates  of  the  class  of  1903: 

"If  your  present  occupation  is  different  from  your  initial  occupation,  indicate 
by  checking  or  by  adding  to  the  appended  list  the  reasons  for  the  change: 

Better  salary  More  congenial  occupation 

Vocation  of  earlier  choice  Better  adapted  to  my  abilities 

TABLE  XL 
Frequency  op  Reasons  for  Leaving  Initial  Occupation 


Reasons  Assigned  for  Change 
from  Initial  Occupation 

Teach- 
ing 

Busi- 
ness 

Law 

Medi- 
cine 

Engin- 
eering 

Minis- 
try 

other 
Occu- 
pations 

Total 
Fre- 
quency 

MEN 

Better  Salary 

5 
6 

4 

5 

1 

3 
7 
8 
3 

2 

1 

7 

18 

Vocation  of  Earlier 
Choice 

13 

More  Congenial 
^Occupation _  _  . 

4 

1 

16 

Better  Adapted  to 
Abilities . 

9 

Chance        .     __ 

1 

Better  Opportunity 

1 

1 

Total    -. 

21 

22 

2 

1 

12 

58 

WOMEN 

Better  Salary 

2 

1 

11 

8 
11 

3 

I 

2 

2 
3 

5 

Vocation  of  Earlier 
Choice  -- 

1 

More  Congenial 
Occupation 

13 

Better  Adapted  to 
**Abilities 

10 

Other  Reasons 

14 

Totals---                 -  - 

33 

11 

43 

Influence  of  the  College  Course  71 

In  answer  to  this  question  some  individuals  checked  one  reason  while 
some  checked  two  or  more  reasons  for  their  change  in  occupation.  In 
order  to  simplify  the  following  tables  which  summarize  the  tabulation 
of  these  answers,  each  vote  is  counted  as  one  whether  it  was  combined 
with  other  reasons  or  not.  Table  XL  is  based  on  a  classification 
according  to  initial  occupations  of  the  individuals  responding  and 
shows  the  reasons  which  led  these  graduates  to  leave  certain  occupations. 

The  reasons  which  operated  most  frequently  to  induce  change  in 
occupation  are,  for  men:  better  financial  retiu-ns,  more  congenial  oc- 
cupation, entrance  upon  vocation  of  earlier  choice  and  occupation  bet- 
ter adapted  to  the  individual's  abilities,  in  the  order  named.  Analysis  by 
occupations  shows  that  those  who  left  teaching  were  influenced  by 
these  factors  in  almost  equal  amounts.  Those  leaving  teaching  who 
were  influenced  largely  by  the  financial  factor  are  distributed  as  to 
final  occupation  among  the  various  professions  and  business.  Most 
of  those  whose  change  was  determined  by  earlier  choice  left  teaching 
for  law  or  medicine.  Those  who  sought  more  congenial  work  or  work 
better  adapted  to  their  abilities  are  scattered  among  different  occupa- 
tions. Those  who  left  business  did  so  chiefly  for  vocations  of  earlier 
choice  and  for  more  congenial  occupation.  Financial  considerations 
played  a  lesser  part,  and  were  usually  only  one  of  several  reasons  as- 
signed. Those  who  left  business  for  vocations  of  earlier  choice  went 
mainly  into  law  or  medicine.  About  half  of  those  who  were  seeking 
more  congenial  occupations  went  into  teaching,  the  remainder  being 
scattered  among  different  occupations. 

The  chief  reasons  responsible  for  change  in  occupation  among  women 
graduates  are  the  desire  for  more  congenial  work  or  for  an  occupa- 
tion better  adapted  to  the  individual's  abilities.  Need  to  be  at  home 
is  another  large  factor  in  the  case  of  women  and  constitutes  a  major 
part  of  the  causes  of  change  listed  under  "other  reasons."  "Vocation 
of  earlier  choice"  seems  a  negligible  factor  in  producing  change  in 
women's  occupations.  This  is  consistent  with  the  fact  shown  in  Table 
XXXV,  page  58,  that  few  women  entered  their  initial  occupation  as 
a  chance  to  earn  for  further  study. 

The  number  of  cases  upon  which  this  study  of  reasons  for  change 
in  occupation  is  based  is  too  small  to  merit  its  presentation  except  for 
consideration  in  connection  with  the  study  of  reasons  for  choice  and 
the  measurement  of  change.  No  conclusions  will  be  drawn  from  it 
except  in  connection  with  these  studies. 


CHAPTER  VI 

OTHER  FACTORS  HAVING  A  POSSIBLE  BEARING  UPON 
SUCCESS  IN  COLLEGE  AND  SUCCESS  IN  VOCATION 

The  fact  that  a  student  is  self-supporting  wholly  or  in  part  during 
his  college  course  may  have  some  bearing  upon  his  record  both  in 
scholarship  and  in  the  extra-curricular  life  of  the  school.  It  may  also 
indicate  qualities  which  have  a  measurable  relation  to  vocational  suc- 
cess. The  amount  and  kind  of  professional  training  after  graduation 
may  be  related  in  a  measurable  degree  to  later  vocational  achievement. 
Early  marriage  and  children  may  have  something  to  do  with  success, 
either  as  a  spur  to  greater  effort,  or  as  a  hindrance  to  further  study. 

Data  with  respect  to  these  matters  were  secured  on  the  occupational 
questionnaire  for  men,  and  on  self-support  and  study  after  graduation 
for  women.  It  was  found  impossible,  however,  to  isolate  the  separate 
factors  to  be  studied  and  retain  groups  large  enough  to  justify  any 
sort  of  suggestion  as  to  trends  in  relation  to  vocational  efficiency,  for 
in  this  matter  as  well  as  in  the  other  problems  considered  in  this  study 
inspection  of  the  tabulations  showed  the  necessity  of  distributing  the 
data  according  to  occupations.  The  attempt  to  measure  such  relation- 
ships, even  crudely,  was  therefore  abandoned.  However,  certain  facts 
of  interest  are  brought  out  by  the  tabulations  and  some  of  these  facts 
will  be  presented  briefly  in  this  chapter. 

SEIvF-SUPPORT  IN  COLLEGE 

The  data  for  determining  the  amount  and  kind  of  self-support  in 
college  were  obtained  in  reply  to  the  following  questions  included  in  the 
occupational  questionnaire. 

If  wholly  or  partially  self-supporting  during  your  college  course,  what  was  the 
gross  amount  earned  during  the  four  years? 

What  part  of  this  was  earned  while  college  was  in  session  (i.  e.,  exclusive  of 
summer  vacations)? 

How  was  it  earned? 

Table  XLI  summarizes  the  replies  of  203  men  and  117  women  now 
engaged  in  paid  occupations.  It  shows  that  of  the  203  men  reporting 
two- thirds  were  wholly  or  partly  self-supporting,  earning  a  median  amoimt 

72 


Other  Factors 


73 


TABLE  XLI 

Sblf-Support  op  College  Students  Distributed  on  the  Basis  of  Occupations 

12^  Years  After  Graduation 


Approximate  Amounts 

K"lVi^   nf  \X7rvt-lr 

bC 

.s 

>\ 

Earned  During  Course 

^ 

•d 

Occupation 

bO 

a 

1 

73 

.2 
^.1 

1 

a 
§ 

3 

"rt 

2 

1 

put 

o 

c 

c 

§ 

^ 
^ 

1 

> 

0 

B 
< 

•3S 

•d 

If 

3 

n 

■''•s 

6 

V  c3 

t^  t: 

H 

Is 

:Sm 

<: 

^ 

^ 

«» 

«» 

SW 

D 

t/i 

in  J: 

09 

MEN 

Teaching.-  

60 
54 
31 
29 
16 

11 

28 

16 

8 

2 

49 
26 
15 
21 
14 

6 

5 
2 
3 

1 

8 
3 
5 
3 
2 

8 
3 
2 

4 
4 

9 
7 
3 
3 
4 

18 
8 
3 
8 
3 

$700 
$800 
$375 
$950 
$600 

34 
23 
13 
13 
14 

4 
4 
3 
2 

6 

4 

2 
1 

26 
9 
10 
10 
11 

13 

Business - 

11 

Law- 

S 

Medicine  _   _   ..       .   . 

13 

Engineering 

7 

Ministry  - 

13 

2 

11 

1 

1 

1 

2 

6 

$1100 

5 

2 

--- 

7 

3 

Total 

203 

67 

136 

18 

22 

22 

28 

46 

$700 

102 

15 

13 

73 

52 

WOMEN 

Teaching  -   - . 

Q? 

73 

19 

S 

8 

^ 

S 

$300 

10 

4 

7 

16 

1 

Business.     _-.   . 

8 

5 

3 

? 

1 

$900 

4 

1 

Social  and  Religious 

Work 

10 

7 

8 
7 

2 

1 

•  — 

1 

-  — 

-- 

1 

1 

1 

Librarians- 

Total 

117 

93 

24 

6 

8 

3 

6 

1 

14 

4 

8 

17 

3 

of  approximately  $700.  There  are  marked  differences  among  the  different 
vocations  as  to  the  proportions  of  men  who  were  partially  or  wholly 
self-supporting  during  college.  Teaching  and  the  ministry  lead  the  list 
with  82  per  cent  and  85  per  cent  respectively.  The  small  number  of 
ministers  reporting  makes  the  exact  percentage  for  this  group  some- 
what imreliable.  Medicine  with  72  per  cent  comes  next,  then  engineer- 
ing with  69  per  cent.  Somewhat  less  than  half  of  the  business  men  and 
lawyers  were  self-supporting.  If  we  contrast  business  with  its  high 
percentage  of  non-self-supporting  men  and  its  low  scholastic  distri- 
bution, with  teaching  which  has  a  low  percentage  of  non-self-support 
and  high  scholastic  range,  there  is  a  suggestion  that  probably  the  matter 
of  self-support  does  not  play  so  large  a  part  in  scholarship  as  do  some 
other  factors 


74  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

Of  the  117  women  reporting,  only  20  per  cent  were  partially  or  wholly 
self-supporting.  The  median  amount  earned  was  approximately  $300. 
The  groups  other  than  teaching  are  represented  by  too  few  cases  to 
serve  as  the  basis  of  comparisons. 

The  kinds  of  work  were  classified  somewhat  arbitrarily  imder  the 
heads:  unskilled  manual,  skilled  manual,  unskilled  intellectual,  skilled 
intellectual,  and  business.  The  most  frequent  type  by  far  is  imskilled 
manual.  A  better  idea  of  the  ways  in  which  these  students  earned 
their  way  can  be  gained  by  a  more  detailed  analysis  of  the  methods  of 
earning.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  same  student  frequently  reported 
different  types  of  work. 

Unskilled  manual  (men)  included:  waiter  and  kitchen  work,  janitor, 
caretaker  about  house  and  lawn,  night  watchman,  farm  labor,  caring  for 
sick,  sawing  wood,  driving  milk  wagon,  coachman,  stable  work,  bell 
boy,  brickyard  work,  miscellaneous  jobs.  Skilled  manual:  print  shop 
work,  painting,  barber  shop,  tailor  shop,  athletic  coach,  brakeman, 
reading  gas  meters,  shoemaker,  machine  shop,  photographic  work, 
gymnasium  assistant,  jewelry  shop.  Skilled  intellectual:  teaching  and 
tutoring,  library  work,  clerical,  surveying,  editorial  work,  orchestra,  choir, 
teaching  music,  pharmacist,  laboratory  assistant,  bookkeeper,  report- 
er, engineering,  surveying,  weather  bureau,  preaching,  chaplain,  editor  of 
college  paper.  Business:  clerk,  canvassing,  bill  collecting,  bank  clerk, 
college  supply  store,  salesman,  running  a  boarding  house,  club  steward, 
collecting  rents,  book  agent,  life  insurance,  handling  ads.,  laundry  agency, 
store  delivery,  managing  the  college  paper. 

The  women  who  earned  by  unskilled  manual  labor  served  as  mothers' 
helpers,  maids,  waiters;  cared  for  sick;  served  at  teas;  did  cooking, 
sewing,  laundering,  cleaning,  kitchen  work;  waited  on  table;  did  mis- 
cellaneous jobs;  and  one  was  an  artist's  model.  Skilled  manual  for 
women  included:  remodeling  hats,  typewriting  and  massage.  Some  of 
the  activities  listed  imder  unskilled  manual  may  easily  belong  under 
skilled  manual.  It  is  difl&cult  to  draw  the  line  in  many  cases.  Unskilled 
intellectual  occupations  included:  library  work,  sorting  papers,  reading 
to  people,  clerical  work.  Skilled  intellectual  for  women  included :  tutoring 
and  other  teaching,  laboratory  assistant,  playground  work.  Business  in- 
cluded :  magazine  subscriptions,  catering,  clerk  in  store. 

SPECIAL  STUDY  OR  TRAINING  AFTER  GRADUATION 

To  what  extent  is  the  education  offered  by  the  liberal  arts  college 
supplemented  by  later  training  for  the  vocations  its  graduates  enter? 
What  and  how  long  is  this  training  and  to  what  extent  does  its  amoimt 


Other  Factors 


75 


diiffer  for  different  occupations  ?    In  attempting  to  answer  these  questions, 
the  following  queries  were  included  in  the  occupational  questionnaire: 

What  special  study  or  training  for  your  vocation  have  you  had  since  graduation 
from  college? 

In  the  following  table,  indicate  the  amount  and  the  dates  of  such  training. 
All  of  time  for  years. 

One  half  time  for  years. 

One  quarter  time  for  years. 

TABLE  XLII 

Number  of  Years  op  Special  Study  for  Vocation  After  Graduation 

From  College 


Years  and  Part  Years  of  Graduate  Study 

Occupation 

None 

Unknown 

i 
to 

J 

i 

to 

li 

li 
to 

2i 

2i 
to 

3i 

3i 
to 
4i 

4i 
to 

5i 

5i 
to 
6 

Over 
6 

Med- 
ian 

Number 
Reporting 

MEN 

Teaching'..  

10 

39 

4 

..... 

8 
1 

15 
2 
2 

3 

12 
4 
3 

2 

10 

6 

3 

2 

0 
3 
5 
0 
3 

66 

Business  - 

51 

Law 

21 
2 
1 

4 

9 

"7 

4" 

34 

Medicine.           

3 
2 

1 
1 
3 

26 

Engineering    . 

8 

17 

Ministry  ..   .   . 

6 

-- 

2 

11 

Totals 

61 

10 

14 

22 

21 

34 

16 

12 

11 

4 

li 

205 

WOMEN 

Teaching              

15 

4 

1 

23 
2 
5 

27 
3 

14 
2 
2 

8 

2 

1 

-- 



I 

91 

Business  - 

8 

Social  and  Religious 

2 

11 

Librarian 

4 

Totals 

20 

3 

30 

30 

18 

10 

2 

1 

0 

0 

1 

114 

'Unlike  preparation  for  law  and  medicine,  this  graduate  study  does  not  necessarily  or  usually  precede 
the  entrance  upon  pnrfessional  work. 


Some  of  the  replies  were  diflficult  to  tabulate  because  oi  the  irregular- 
ity of  the  training.  For  example,  one  man,  a  lawyer,  checked  all  of  the 
time  for  four  years  and  one  quarter  of  the  time  tor  five  years.  Opposite 
the  first  statement  he  records,  "college,  worked  my  way,"  and  opposite 
the  second,  "studying  law  and  working."  His  first  occupational  record 
is,  "Physical  director  1903-10."  Another  records,  "Two  fifty-minute 
periods  (4.50-6.30  p.m.)  six  days  a  week  for  three  full  scholastic  years." 
For  teachers,  summer  sessions  or  summers  abroad  are  not  infrequently 


76  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

reported.  These  irregular  records  have  been  equated  as  well  as  possi- 
ble in  terms  of  years  and  parts  of  years.  Table  XLII  summarizes 
the  reports  which  were  received.  "Home  reading"  and  "experience" 
have  been  reported  in  many  cases,  but  obviously  could  not  be  included 
in  a  tabulation  based  on  amounts  of  time  given  to  special  training.  In 
the  case  of  medicine,  hospital  work  was  included  under  training,  while 
for  law,  experience  in  a  law  ofl&ce  was  not  so  counted.  This  distinction 
is  somewhat  arbitrary,  but  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  the  yoimg  lawyer 
is  usually  paid  for  such  work,  while  the  young  doctor,  until  very  recently, 
received  no  remuneration. 

The  kinds  of  training  reported  are  as  follows:  Teachers:  university, 
college,  or  normal  school  graduate  work — part-time,  full-time,  or 
summers;  correspondence  study;  research;  travel  (language);  private 
lessons:  conservatory  of  music;  school  of  expression;  business  school. 
One  woman  teacher  had  taken  nurse's  training.  Business:  law  school, 
medical  school,  engineering  school,  forestry,  university  post  graduate — 
full-time,  part-time,  summer  schools  (one  took  M.A.  in  economics); 
correspondence  schools;  business  schools.  In  most  cases  "experience" 
or  "hard  work"  is  the  report  given.  "Reading — trade  papers  and 
books,"  is  also  frequently  reported.  The  lawyers  usually  report  law 
school,  very  often  followed  by  office  experience  of  from  six  months  to 
two  years.  Occasionally  the  law  degree  is  preceded  by  a  year's  study 
for  the  Master's  degree.  Inone  case  the  I^.L-B.  was  followed  by  three 
years'  study  for  the  Ph.D.  The  four  lawyers  who  record  no  graduate 
study,  report  "experience"  or  "constant  reading  and  practice."  It  is 
possible  that  they  misinterpreted  the  question,  and  reported  with 
reference  to  training  after  graduation  in  law.  The  same  may  be  true  of 
the  men  who  reported  less  than  three  years  for  the  study  of  medicine. 
Several  of  the  physicians  report  work  for  the  M.A.  degree  and  one  for  the 
Ph.D.  In  general  they  report  the  medical  school  plus  hospital  experi- 
ence of  from  one  to  six  years.  European  or  other  post-graduate  medical 
work  is  reported  in  a  number  of  cases.  The  engineers  report  technical 
school,  university  graduate  study,  correspondence  and  night  school 
com-ses.  Beyond  that  they  report  home  study  and  practical  experience. 
The  ministers  report  work  in  theological  schools  mainly.  Home  reading 
and  short  courses  at  the  university  are  also  mentioned.  The  women 
social  and  religious  workers  report  Y.  W.  C.  A.  training  schools,  lectures 
and  correspondence  study;  business  college ;  theological  seminary;  college 
and  university  graduate  work;  travel  (language);  music;  and  home 
study.  The  librarians  studied  in  library  schools  and  held  apprentice- 
ships in  libraries. 


Other  Factors 

YEARS  BETWEEN  GRADUATION  AND  MARRIAGE 


77 


Table  XLIII  shows,  for  the  college  men  in  the  larger  vocational 
groups,  the  distribution  by  occupations  of  (1)  the  number  of  years 
between  graduation  and  marriage  and  (2)  the  number  of  children. 


TABLE  XXIII 

Years  Between  Graduation  and  Marriage  of  Men  m  Different 
Occupations.    Number  of  Children  12^  Years  After  Graduation 


Frequency  for  Each  Occupation 

Time  of  Marriage 

Teaching 

Business 

Law 

Medicine 

Engineering 

Ministry 

Before  Graduation 

4 
3 
5 
7 
7 
7 

10 
6 
2 
1 
1 
2 
4 

1 
2 
1 
5 
7 
3 
6 
5 
9 
2 
4 
2 
1 
I 

2 

Year  of  Graduation.  . 

1 

1 

1 

One  Year  After 

Two  Years  After.     . . 

1 
4 

1 

1 

1 
3 
3 

Three  Years  After 

Four  Years  After 

2 
3 

Five  Years  After 

6 

2 
3 
6 

2 
2 

1 
2 

3 
5 
1 
6 

Six  Years  After 

2 

Seven  Years  After 

1 

Eight  Years  After.. . 

Nine  Years  After 

3 
2 

1 

Ten  Years  After 

1 
1 

Eleven  Years  After.. 

Twelve  Years  After.. 

Approximate 
Median  Years 

4 

5 

7 

6 

5 

3 

Not  Married . 

5 

4 

4 

8 

3 

2 

Number  of  Children 
0 

14 
10 
16 
14 
5 

5 

16 
20 

5 

1 
1 

5 

9 

10 

4 

1 

2 
6 
9 
4 

5 
4 
6 

"      1 

1. 

3 

2 

3 

3 

2 

4 

5 

6 

7 

1 



1 

1 

Approximate  Median 
Number  of  Children 

? 

2 

2 

7 

, 

2 

CHAPTER  VII 
SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

The  more  important  results  of  this  survey  of  the  vocational  distribu- 
tion and  income  of  college  graduates  in  relation  to  college  marks  and 
extra-curricular  activity,  and  of  the  study  of  choice  and  change  in  the 
occupation  of  these  graduates,  are  summarized  in  this  chapter,  together 
with  the  conclusions  which  these  results  suggest.' 

1 .  The  relation  between  college  standing  and  income  twelve  and  one- 
half  years  after  graduation  is  too  slight  to  warrant  the  use  of  marks  as 
the  chief  basis  for  predicting  the  kind  of  success  that  the  average  em- 
ployer has  in  mind  when  he  consults  the  appointment  committee  in 
regard  to  its  students  or  graduates.  Marks  should,  liowever,  be  con- 
sidered as  one  factor  in  prognosticating  vocational  success,  since  the 
coefficients  of  correlation  found  were  positive.  The' relative  weight  to 
be  given  scholarship  in  predicting  later  achievement  ^  in  any  given 
occupation  can  only  be  determined  through  further  investigation. 

In  so  far  as  the  individuals  concerned  in  this  study  were  really  meas- 
ured in  scholarly  ability  by  the  tests  of  the  college,  the  low  correlation 
between  marks  and  income  probably  means  that  the  qualities  which 
lead  to  vocational  efficiency,  as  indexed  by  the  world  at  large,  are  only 
in  part,  in  smaller  part  than  we  had  believed  was  true,  the  qualities 
measiu-ed  by  success  in  the  college  curriculum.  It  may  well  be  true, 
however,  that  another  cause  of  the  low  correlation  is  the  fact  now  be- 
ing fairly  faced  by  progressive  college  teachers  and  administrators,  that 
the  college  has  failed  in  very  large  measure  to  relate  its  curriculum  so 
directly  to  the  student's  life  interests  as  to  convince  him  of  its  worth. 
If  able  students  consider  other  activities  more  worthy  of  effort  than 
their  studies,  their  marks  will  fail  to  measure  anything,  so  far  as  these 
students  are  concerned,  except  the  valuation  placed  upon  the  studies. 
To  the  extent  that  this  cause  contributes  to  the  low  correlation — and 
the  degree  to  which  it  contributes  can  only  be  a  matter  of  conjec- 
ture— the  result  is  an  indictment  of  ithe  vague,  unanalyzed  "culture" 
aim  of  the  college  and  of  the  "general  training"  methods  of  instruc- 
tion based  upon  the  old  faculty  psychology. 

^The  results  summarized  in  this  chapter  differ  in  reliability,  as  the  writer 
has  taken  pains  to  point  out  in  earlier  chapters.  At  this  point  the  reader  is 
reminded  of  this  fact,  but  to  avoid  verbosity  statements  in  regard  to  reliability 
are,  in  the  main,  omitted  from  the  summary. 

78 


Summary  and  Conclusions  79 

2.  The  relation  between  extra-curricular  activity  and  income  is  some- 
what closer  than  that  between  scholarship  and  income.  This  empha- 
sizes the  necessity  of  faculty  and  administrative  recognition  of  student 
life  as  a  selective  agency  of  even  greater  importance  than  the  curricu- 
lum so  far  as  the  qualities  that  make  for  future  vocational  success  are 
concerned.  Administrative  ofl&cers,  therefore,  should  give  serious 
attention  to  the  problem  of  measuring  and  recording  these  non-academic 
achievements.  Vocational  counselors,  student  advisers  generally,  and 
appointment  committees  should  make  careful  study  of  these  records 
in  relation  to  all  diagnostic  and  placement  decisions.  Undoubtedly 
there  are  vocational  variations  as  to  the  prognostic  significance  of  extra- 
curricular activity,  both  as  to  kind  and  amount.  This  question  merits 
further  investigation. 

3.  The  results  here  reported  prove  nothing  as  to  the  relative  contri- 
butions of  college  studies  and  of  extra-curricular  activities  to  the  pro- 
duction of  vocational  success,  nor  as  to  the  effects  of  study  or  neglect 
of  study  upon  vocational  success.  Rather,  they  serve  as  measm-^s  of 
the  two  sets  of  activities,  cmricular  and  non-curricular,  as  selective 
agents  in  identifying  the  qualities  which  operate  in  later  life  to  produce 
vocational  success.  Until  we  can  measure  the  initial  traits  and  abili- 
ties which  a  student  possesses  when  he  enters  college  we  have  no  cer- 
tain means  of  measuring  the  degree  to  which  either  college  studies  or 
extra-curricular  activities  have  contributed  to  the  final  product. 

4.  Scholarship  seems  to  be  a  selective  factor  with  reference  to  voca- 
tion to  a  considerably  greater  degree  than  with  reference  to  success  in 
a  specific  vocation.  This  fact  should  be  given  due  weight  in  any  meas- 
urement, or  in  the  interpretation  of  any  measiu-ement  of  the  relation 
between  scholarship  and  later  success. 

5.  The  college  plays  a  very  small  part  in  the  vocational  decisions  of 
its  graduates.  The  majority  (at  least  two-thirds)  choose  their  vocations 
before  entering  or  after  leaving  college.  The  reasons  for  choosing  and 
other  evidence  seem  to  justify  the  inference  that  the  college  has  played 
little  or  no  part  in  the  decisions  of  many  of  the  one-third  who  decided 
during  their  college  course.  Both  the  large  number  who  have  decided 
on  vocations  before  entering  college  and  those  who  have  made  no  de- 
cisions before  entrance,  offer  the  college  a  large  unutilized  opportunity 
and  a  grave  responsibility  for  service  to  student  and  to  society. 

6.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  change  in  occupation,  a  part  of  which 
at  least  is  probably  indicative  of  waste  both  to  the  individual  and  to 
society.    The  change  here  measured  takes  no  account  of  the  normal 


80  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

shifts  within  a  large  field  of  work  such  as  business,  which  really  com- 
prehends a  great  diversity  of  occupations.  Some  of  this  occupational 
experimentation  is  doubtless  of  ultimate  service  to  the  individual  and 
some  of  it  is  not.  In  this  study  it  was  not  possible  to  isolate  and  meas- 
ure change  as  a  conditioning  factor  in  vocational  success.  Such  meas- 
urement is  desirable  in  determining  just  how  costly  is  the  laissez  faire 
policy  which  we  piu-sue  with  reference  to  the  choice  of  life  careers. 
In  any  case  the  frequency  of  change,  barring  that  which  is  accounted 
for  by  entrance  upon  the  occupation  of  earlier  choice,  measures  one, 
though  not  the  only  serious  effect  of  this  policy. 

7.  The  liberal  arts  college  sends  more  of  its  male  graduates  into 
business  than  into  any  other  single  occupational  field.  These  business 
men  as  a  group  stand  lower  scholastically  than  their  fellows  who  enter 
other  fields  of  work.  This  seems  to  indicate  that  the  college  curriculum 
is  ill-adapted  to  their  abilities,  or  interests,  or  both.  Either  adjust- 
ments should  be  made  in  the  college  course  to  meet  the  needs  of  these 
men,  or  they  should  be  advised  to  enter  institutions  which  are  better 
adapted  to  their  interests  and  abilities. 

8.  One  of  the  outstanding  results  of  this  investigation  is  the  emphasis 
it  throws  upon  variations  among  different  occupations  in  practically 
all  the  factors  studied,  whether  these  factors  are  components  of  the 
scholastic  or  of  the  graduate  careers  of  the  subjects.  The  occupational 
variations  as  to  (a)  rank  as  initial  and  final  occupations,  (b)  reasons 
for  entering  initial  occupation,  (c)  time  of  choosing,  (d)  change  and 
reasons  for  change,  (e)  income  distribution,  (/")  scholarship  distribution, 
(g)  cooperation  in  research  work,  (h)  self-support  as  a  student,  (i) 
amount  of  graduate  study,  0)  time  between  graduation  and  marriage, 
are  summarized  below.  The  data  are  presented  for  men  only  because 
of  the  small  numbers  of  women  in  occupations  other  than  teaching. 

TEACHING 

Teaching  holds  first  place  as  an  initial  occupation  for  the  group 
studied.  As  a  vocation  twelve  to  thirteen  years  after  graduation  it 
holds  second  place. 

As  to  the  time  of  decision,  about  36  per  cent  chose  their  work  during 
their  college  cotu'se.  This  is  about  the  same  proportion  as  for  medicine 
and  engineering  and  considerably  larger  than  for  law  or  business.  That 
one-fifth  decided  after  graduation  is  also  worthy  of  note. 

As  to  reasons  for  entering  teaching  as  an  initial  occupation,  59  per 


Summary  and  Conclusions  81 

cent  assigned  "choice";  26  per  cent  "best  thing  that  offered"  or  "ex- 
perimenting, having  made  no  choice";  and  15  per  cent  "chance  to 
earn  for  further  study." 

As  a  transient  occupation  it  ranks  far  above  any  other  calling  except 
business.  As  to  its  rank  as  compared  with  business  in  this  matter 
of  change,  there  is  some  doubt.  For  one  group  studied,  much  the 
larger  one,  teaching  has  by  far  the  highest  percentage  of  change.  For 
the  second  group,  including  only  men  who  replied  to  the  questionnaire, 
business  has  a  slightly  larger  percentage  of  change,  but  the  replies 
represent  a  smaller  proportion  of  the  whole  number  engaged  in  that 
occupation  than  is  true  in  the  case  of  teachers.  Teaching  not  only 
loses  a  high  percentage  of  its  initial  entrants  but  its  gains  from  other 
fields  of  work  are  relatively  small,  though  the  magnitude  of  the  results 
on  this  point  also  differs  for  the  two  groups  studied. 

The  reasons  assigned  for  change  from  teaching  to  other  occupations 
are  distributed  fairly  evenly  among,  (1)  better  salary,  (2)  vocation  of 
earlier  choice,  (3)  more  congenial  occupation,  (4)  occupation  better 
adapted  to  abilities. 

Comparison  of  income  distributions  places  teaching  lower  than  any 
of  the  other  vocations  except  the  ministry,  whether  we  consider  the 
median  alone,  or  the  median  and  the  range  of  the  middle  50  per  cent. 

As  to  scholarship  rank,  just  the  opposite  holds  true.  The  median 
rank  for  teaching  is  higher  than  for  any  other  occupation,  and  the 
same  comparative  results  are  found  when  the  percentage  included  in 
successive  halves,  fomths  and  fifths  of  the  class  are  considered. 
These  facts  are  corroborated  by  figures  from  other  sources  and  give 
teaching  easily  the  highest  place  as  a  scholarly  profession.  It  also  takes 
first  place  as  to  interest  in  investigation,  or  at  least  interest  in  this 
investigation  since  more  than  76  per  cent  of  the  teachers  returned 
replies  to  the  occupational  questionnaire. 

Eighty-two  per  cent  of  these  men  were  wholly  or  partially  self-sup- 
porting as  students — a  larger  proportion  than  for  any  other  vocation 
except  the  ministry.  The  median  amount  of  professional  study  after 
graduation  was  approximately  1^  years;  15  per  cent  had  no  special 
preparation  beyond  college.  The  median  number  of  years  between 
graduation  and  marriage  is  four,  one  year  more  than  for  the  ministry 
and  from  one  to  three  less  than  for  the  other  occupational  groups. 

BUSINESS 

Business  ranks  second  as  an  initial  occupation.  As  a  final  occupa- 
tion it  ranks  first,  claiming  nearly  32  per  cent  of  the  class  of  1903   in 


82  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eificiency 

the  cooperating  colleges.  This  is  almost  twice  as  large  a  percentage 
as  for  teaching  which  ranks  next. 

As  to  time  of  choosing,  48  per  cent  report  decisions  after  gradua- 
tion— more  than  twice  as  large  a  proportion  as  for  any  other  occupa- 
tion; 23  per  cent  decided  before  entering  college;  and  29  per 
cent  during  college.  Extra-ciu-ricular  activities  and  summer  work 
are  occasionally  mentioned  in  incidental  comments  as  factors  in  the 
decisions. 

The  most  frequent  reason  assigned  for  entering  business  as  an  initial 
occupation  is  "best  thing  that  offered,"  which  represents  57  per  cent 
of  the  reasons  assigned.  Add  to  this  the  12  per  cent  for  "experiment- 
ing, no  choice,"  and  we  have  69  per  cent  who  were  drifting.  Eleven 
per  cent  entered  as  a  chance  to  earn  for  further  study.  Only  18  per 
cent  of  the  reasons  assigned  were  "choice." 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  we  are  prepared  to  find  that  in  frequency 
of  change  business  vies  with,  or  may  even  surpass,  teaching  as  a  tran- 
sient occupation.  In  drawing  power  as  a  final  occupation,  however, 
it  stands  second,  being  surpassed  only  by  law. 

The  chief  reasons  assigned  for  leaving  business  for  other  occupations 
are  "more  congenial  occupation"  and  "vocation  of  earlier  choice." 
The  chief  reasons  assigned  for  entering  business  from  other  occupations 
are  "better  salary"  and  "more  congenial  occupation." 

The  income  distribution  shows  the  median  for  business  slightly 
lower  than  that  for  law  and  almost  the  same  as  that  for  medicine. 
Its  mid-fifty  per  cent  range,  however,  is  somewhat  better  than  that  for 
law  and  very  slightly  poorer  than  that  for  medicine.  Its  lower  range 
reaches  as  far  down  as  that  of  any  occupation,  but  its  topmost  range  is 
far  higher  than  that  of  any  other  occupation — $5000  higher  than  the 
next  highest  level.  In  the  interval — $10,000  and  above — fall  12  per  cent 
of  the  business  men,  6  per  cent  of  the  lawyers,  3  per  cent  of  the  doctors, 
and  1|  per  cent  of  the  teachers. 

As  to  scholarship  rank,  the  business  men  as  a  group  stand  lowest, 
with  the  exception  of  the  ministry  which  is  represented  by  too  few  cases 
to  serve  as  a  reliable  basis  for  comparison.  This  result  is  corroborated 
by  data  drawn  from  other  sources. 

Only  46.4  per  cent  replied  to  the  occupational  questionnaire — the 
smallest  proportion  for  any  occupational  group.  Something  less  than 
one-half  were  self-supporting  in  college.  Beyond  experience  and  home 
reading,  76  per  cent  report  no  special  preparation  after  graduation 
from  college.  The  median  number  of  years  between  graduation  and 
marriage  is  five. 


Summary  and  Conclusions  83 

Law  ranks  third  both  as  an  initial  and  as  a  final  occupation.  For 
some  colleges  it  ranks  second  as  a  final  occupation,  displacing  teaching. 

Sixty-five  per  cent  of  the  lawyers  chose  their  occupation  before 
entering  college  and  only  12  per  cent  chose  after  graduation.  As  to 
reasons  for  entering  law  as  an  initial  occupation  "choice"  was  assigned 
in  93  per  cent  of  the  cases  and  "best  thing  that  offered"  in  7  per  cent. 
Most  of  the  men  who  began  in  this  field  remained.  In  both  groups 
studied,  the  percentage  of  change  was  low — 3.2  for  the  larger  group  and 
7.1  for  the  smaller.  In  percentage  recruited  from  other  occupations 
it  stands  first. 

"Better  salary"  was  the  reason  assigned  for  change  by  those  who 
left  law.  The  chief  reasons  assigned  for  entering  law  by  those  who  had 
different  initial  occupations  were  better  income  and  vocation  of  earlier 
choice. 

From  an  economic  point  of  view  law  for  college  men  ranks  high. 
Its  median  income  is  higher  than  that  of  any  other  group,  but  business 
and  medicine  are  somewhat  better  in  terms  of  the  range  of  the  mid- 
fifty  per  cent.  The  upper  range  for  business  is  decidedly  higher  than 
that  for  law. 

Its  scholastic  position  is  also  good.  Considering  all  available  data 
it  would  probably  rank  third  scholastically,  being  outranked  by  teach- 
ing and  perhaps  engineering.  Legal  caution  may  account  for  the  rela- 
tively low  percentage  (54.7)  who  replied  to  the  occupational  question- 
naire. 

As  a  group  lawyers  seem  to  have  been  relatively  free  from  economic 
pressure  as  students.  In  common  with  business  less  than  half  of  those 
reporting  were  wholly  or  partially  self-supporting,  and  this  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  after  graduation  they  took  in  the  main  three  years  of 
professional  training.  This  relatively  large  amount  of  professional 
training  after  graduation  probably  accounts  for  the  median  of  seven 
years  between  graduation  and  marriage. 

MEDICINE 

Medicine  ranks  fourth  both  as  an  initial  and  as  a  final  occupation. 
About  60  per  cent  chose  before  entering  college  and  about  40  per  cent 
during  their  college  course.  "Choice"  is  the  reason  uniformly  ascribed 
for  entering  the  profession,  and  little  change  is  reported.  This  might 
be  expected  in  the  light  of  the  long  preparation  beyond  college  grad- 
uation which  these  men  undergo.  The  median  number  of  years  of 
special  preparation  is  five.  As  might  be  expected  the  median  num- 
ber of  years  beyond  college  graduation  and  marriage  is  also  high  (6) 


84  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eificiency 

for  those  who  were  married  at  the  end  of  twelve  and  one-half  years. 
About  30  per  cent  were  not  married  at  the  end  of  this  period. 

Considering  median  and  range  of  middle  fifty  per  cent  the  financial 
position  of  the  doctors  is  relatively  favorable.  The  extremes,  how- 
ever, place  the  profession  as  low  financially  as  any  occupation  without 
carrying  it  as  high  within  the  twelve  and  one-half  year  period,  as  law 
or  business. 

Scholastically  the  doctors  hold  an  intermediate  position,  being  lower 
than  teaching,  law  or  engineering,  but  higher  than  business.  A  little 
over  59  per  cent  replied  to  the  occupational  questionnaire. 

ENGINEERING 

Engineering  ranks  slightly  lower  than  the  ministry  in  some  colleges 
and  slightly  higher  in  others,  both  as  an  initial  and  as  a  final  occupation. 
Forty-four  per  cent^  chose  this  field  before  college  entrance,  20  per 
cent  after  graduation,  and  36  per  cent  during  their  college  course. 
"Choice"  is  assigned  as  the  reason  for  entering  in  74  per  cent  of  the 
cases  and  "best  thing  that  offered"  in  the  remainder.  Engineering 
has  a  relatively  small  percentage  of  change  and  also  a  low  percentage 
of  gain  from  other  fields. 

Its  income  position  is  slightly  better  than  that  of  teaching,  but 
much  poorer  than  that  of  medicine,  law  or  business.  Its  scholastic 
position  is  second  only  to  that  of  teaching.  These  men  report  a  much 
smaller  amount  of  special  preparation  beyond  graduation  than  might 
be  expected,  being  little  better  in  this  respect  than  business.  About 
half  report  no  special  preparation  beyond  experience.  The  median 
number  of  years  between  graduation  and  marriage  is  five.  These 
statistical  facts  are  somewhat  unreliable  because  of  the  small  number 
of  cases  upon  which  they  are  based.  Sixty-five  per  cent  of  the 
engineers  sent  in  the  occupational  data  requested. 

THE  MINISTRY 

The  ministry  has  declined  from  its  original  dominant  position  as 
an  occupation  for  college  graduates  to  fifth  place  for  the  country  as 
a  whole.  The  percentages  as  to  choice,  change,  etc.,  are  not  very 
reHable  because  of  the  very  small  number  of  cases  upon  which  they  are 
based.  So  far  as  they  show  anything  they  indicate  that  the  ministry 
is  entered  preponderantly  from  choice,  determined  in  a  large  measure 
before  entering  college,  that  it  suffers  a  relatively  small  amount  of 

^Burritt  places  it  lower  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  giving  it  sixth  place, 
though  it  is  slowly  increasing  while  the  ministry  has  been  steadily  decreasing. 
{Professional  Distribution  of  College  Graduates,  p.  78.) 


Summary  and  Conclusions  85 

change,  and  recruits  relatively  few  men  from  other  fields.  Its  finan- 
cial attraction  is  relatively  small.  As  to  scholastic  distribution  this 
group  stands  lovsr,  but  other  available  data  are  conflicting  upon 
this  point.  It  stands  with  law  as  to  median  number  of  years  of  study 
after  graduation  (three) .  The  median  number  of  years  between  gradua- 
tion and  marriage  is  three,  less  than  for  any  other  occupational  group. 
About  62  per  cent  replied  to  the  questionnaire. 

9.  The  occupational  distribution  for  women  is  not  nearly  so  wide 
as  that  for  men.  Of  the  37  per  cent  of  the  class  of  1903  engaged  in 
paid  occupations  at  the  end  of  twelve  and  one-half  years,  about  seven- 
tenths  were  teachers.  Considering  the  great  variety  in  natural  endow- 
ment it  is  questionable  whether  there  is  such  a  preponderant  proportion 
of  this  group  of  women  who  are  better  equipped  by  nature  for  teaching 
than  for  any  other  field  of  work. 

The  largest  single  occupational  group  for  women  is  constituted  by 
those  who  are  listed  as  "homemakers."  About  50  per  cent  of  the 
women  in  the  classes  studied  are  included  in  this  group.  No  criteria 
for  measuring  success  in  this  composite  vocation  are  available.  The 
college  has  recognized  in  practice,  if  not  in  theory,  the  need  for  some 
vocational  preparation  for  teachers.  Should  it  not  also  consider  its 
responsibility  with  reference  to  the  50  per  cent  who  will  assume  the  voca- 
tions of  child  rearing,  household  administration,  feeding  and  clothing  a 
family,  etc.,  with,  in  the  main,  no  scientific  preparation  for  a  life  career 
whose  success  is  peculiarly  bound  up  with  both  individual  happiness 
and  social  well-being? 

The  initial  occupation  of  the  50  per  cent  who  later  marry  is  also  a 
matter  of  concern  to  the  college.  About  two  thirds  of  this  group 
engage  in  gainful  occupation  for  anywhere  from  one  year  to  twelve 
years  with  a  median  of  from  five  to  seven  years  before  marriage.  The 
occupational  distribution  of  the  women  included  in  this  investigation 
is,  however,  of  little  practical  service  to  college  administrators  because 
of  the  unprecedented  expansion  of  the  vocational  field  for  women  due 
to  the  War.' 

The  15  per  cent  neither  married  nor  engaged  in  gainful  occupations 
represent  an  unanalyzed  group.  Doubtless  many  of  them  are  also 
engaged  in  some  of  the  homemaking  duties  which  claim  the  married 
group.  We  should  discover,  however,  what  their  activities  are  if  we 
are  to  know  how  the  college  has  succeeded  in  serving  and  how  it  may 
better  serve  all  of  its  graduates. 

'  Bulletin  of  the  Association  of  American  Colleges,  IV,  No.  4,  p.  11. 


86  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Eiflciency 

The  very  complex  problem  created  by  the  temporary  nature  of  the 
initial  occupation  for  about  one  half  of  the  college  women  graduates, 
by  the  composite  nature  of  the  final  occupation  of  this  50  per  cent, 
by  the  tact  that  some  of  them  continue  to  earn  after  marriage,  by 
the  fact  that  many  of  those  who  do  not  marry  are  limited  in  their 
vocational  possibilities  by  home  demands — all  of  these  conditions  make 
the  responsibility  of  the  college  for  vocational  direction  of  its  women 
students  especially  binding. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  COLLEGE  EDUCATION 
SUGGESTED  BY  THIS  STUDY 

The  discussion  offered  in  this  chapter  is  presented,  not  as  conclusions 
of  this  investigation,  but  as  the  author's  opinions  of  certain  desirable 
adjustments  in  the  college  field.  It  is  her  belief  that  this  study  offers 
some  support  to  the  conviction  which  is  shared  by  many  friends  of  high- 
er education  that  some  readjustments  are  urgently  needed  if  the  college 
is  to  give  to  American  Hfe  and  American  youth  its  highest  potential 
service. 

That  the  college  student  Jiasjittlejrespectf or  scholatshiE  is_generally 
acknowledged  both  within  and  without  college  haUs.  The  result  of 
this  low  estimate  of  scholarship  imdoubtedly  registered  as  one  factor 
in  reducing  the  correlations  between  scholarship  and  income  reported 
in  this  investigation.  fUntil  the  students  can  be  convinced  that  the 
work  of  the  classroom  is  worthwhile  for  them,  apart  from  the  marks 
attained,  this  condition  of  affairs  is  unlikely  to  be  changed  no  matter 
what  method  we  adopt  to  exalt  scholarship  itself.  In  his  report  for 
1914'  President  Mickeljohn  of  Amherst,  after  pointing  out  the  fact 
that  in  Amherst  and  other  colleges  from  forty  to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  stu- 
dents who  enter  leave  without  graduating,  expresses  his  belief  that  the 
fundamental  reason  for  this  state  of  affairs  is  that  "many  of  our  students 
are  not  sufficiently  convinced  of  the  value  of  the  college  studies  to  work 
at  them  seriously  while  they  are  with  us,  or  to  remain  with  us  when  ob- 
stacles arise  or  counter  attractions  appear  .  .  ,  Some  way  must  be 
foimd  to  convince  a  Freshman  that  these  four  years  of  college  life  are 
burning  with  such  opportimities  as  he  never  again  will  have,  and  to  keep 
that  conviction  strong  within  him  until  we  have  done  our  work  upon  him. 
How  can  that  conviction  be  established  and  maintained  ?  I  presume 
it  will  be  said  that,  as  in  the  case  of  other  beliefs,  the  best  way  to  ensure 
its  acceptance  is  to  make  it  true." 

To  the  writer  it  seems  evident  that  to  make  this  conviction  true  will 
require  changes  both  in  the  curriculum  of  the  college  and  in  the  methods 
of  instruction  employed,  /just  what  these  changes  should  be,  however, 
must  be  determined  in  the  light  of  (1)  a  clear  definition  of  the  goal  of  the 
American  college,  conceived  in  both  individual  and  social  terms,  and  (2) 

1     President's  Report,  Amherst,  1914. 

87 


88  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

the  facts  of  modern  educational  psychology,  taking  full  account  of  the 
motives  which  control  human  behavior  and  of  the  laws  which  govern 
the  modification  of  such  behavior  whether  original  or  acquired. 

The  aim  of  the  college  is  usually  defined  as  "culture"  or  "liberal  ed- 
ucation." All  too  often  these  terms  carry  with  them  an  academic  aloof- 
ness from  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  It  is  claimed  that  the  college 
should  "fit  men  to  live,  not  to  make  a  living,"  and  anything  which  might 
have  vocational  applicability  is  looked  upon  askance  as  likely  to  inter- 
fere with  and  degrade  the  high  purpose  of  preparing  men  to  live.  Yet 
withal  there  has  been  little  agreement  as  to  just  what  constitutes  a  lib- 
eral education  when  we  pass  to  the  discussion  of  its  details.  With  re- 
spect to  this  lack  of  unanimity  of  aim,  Charles  Francis  Adams  said  in  a 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  address  at  Columbia  University  in  1906,  "The  authori- 
ties are  as  wide  apart  now  as  ever  they  were.  There  is  no  agreement; 
no  united  effort  to  a  given  end."  President  Schurman  of  Cornell,  in 
his  report  for  1906-07,  wrote,  "The  College  is  without  clear  cut  notions 
of  what  a  liberal  education  is  and  how  it  is  to  be  secured  .  .  .  and  the 
pity  of  it  is  that  this  is  not  a  local  or  special  inability  but  a  paralysis 
affecting  every  college  of  arts  in  America."  ^ 

To  the  writer  a  liberal  education  connotes  an  education  which  liber- 
ates the  energies  of  the  individual  for  the  fullest,  richest  and  most 
effective  functioning  in  every  aspect  of  living:  in  his  use  of  leisure;  in 
his  relationships  as  a  member  of  a  family  and  of  the  body  politic;  in  his 
occupation,  through  which  he  both  earns  his  living  and  makes  his  contri- 
bution toward  the  satisfaction  of  human  wants.  This  interpretation  of 
a  liberal  education  implies,  of  course,  a  repudiation  of  that  attitude 
toward  human  activities  which  conceives  of  work  and  culture  as  oppo- 
site poles  in  life — work  connoting  the  practical,  the  material,  the  sordid; 
culture  being  held  synonymous  with  the  refined,  the  uplifting,  the 
spiritual.  The  conception  of  culture  here  adopted  sees  the  habits, 
attitudes  and  knowledge  which  constitute  culture  as  growing  out  of  and 
reacting  upon  every  phase  of  life.  It  does  not  separate  a  man's  culture 
from  his  activities  as  a  member  of  a  family,  as  a  member  of  the  body 
politic,  or  as  a  producer  of  goods.  His  culture  illuminates,  gives  mean- 
ing and  significance  to  his  life,  to  his  work.  Vocation  is  conceived  not 
merely  as  a  necessary  means  of  winning  for  oneself  and  dependents  the 
necessities  and  embellishments  of  life  but  as  an  activity  instinct  with 
social  values  through  which  the  individual  may  continue  his  growth  and 
realize  his  promise.  ^ 

'  Quoted  by  Flexnerin  The  American  College,  The  Century  Company,  1908. 
^  For  a  discussion  of  these  concepts    see  Dewey,  Democracy  and  Education, 
especially  Chap.  XXIII. 


Problems  Suggested  by  this  Study  89 

If  this  conception  of  culture  and  work  is  adopted,  the  college  which 
aims  to  fit  its  students  for  effective  functioning  in  the  varied  relations  of 
life  must  accept  responsibility  for  making  a  contribution  to  the  vocation- 
al as  well  as  to  every  other  phase  of  life.  Indeed,  since  vocation  occupies 
so  central  a  place  in  the  lives  of  most  individuals,  one  of  the  surest  ways 
of  fixing  permanently  those  attitudes,  ideas  and  habits  which  consti- 
tute culture,  is  to  associate  them  with  and  bind  them  to  vocation  while 
they  are  being  acquired.  Tie  up  a  man's  philosophy,  his  psychology,  his 
sociology,  his  history,  his  religion,  his  economics,  his  ethics  and  his 
politics  to  work  which  is  bound  to  be  a  part  of  his  life,  and  we  are  assured 
at  least  of  many  occasions  for  recall,  a  condition  essential  to  their  retention 
as  possible  shaping  influences  in  the  absorbing  life  beyond  the  college  walls. 
But  let  these  subjects  be  acquired  as  something  apart  from  and  supe- 
rior to  the  practical  affairs  of  life  and  they  will  be  put  aside  with  the  cap 
and  gown,  neatly  laid  away,  as  it  were,  in  a  dust  and  mothproof  box, 
safe  from  the  contaminating  influences  of  the  utilitarian  world. 

From  the  standpoint  of  acquisition  as  well  as  from  that  of  retention 
there  is  a  distinct  advantage  to  gain  through  making  vocation  one  of  the 
organizing  centers  of  college  studies.  The  acquisition  and  modifica- 
tion of  habits,  ideas,  attitudes  and  skills  which  constitute  education, 
proceed  most  effectively  when  energy  is  released  and  effort  induced  in 
response  to  urges  or  drives  from  within.  For  the  youth  of  college  age 
the  vocational  motive  constitutes  such  a  drive  which  it  is  highly  waste- 
ful to  ignore  even  if  guidance  with  reference  to  vocation  itself  were  not 
the  goal. 

The  belief  that  the  vocational  aspect  of  life  should  be  given  a  definite 
and  important  place  among  the  objectives  of  the  liberal  arts  college  does 
not  imply  necessarily  that  the  college  is  responsible  for  the  development 
of  specialized  vocational  knowledge  and  skills.  Such  training  is  the 
specific  function  of  the  technical  and  professional  schools.  This  belief 
does  imply,  however,  that  the  college  has  a  large  responsibility  for  lead- 
ing the  student  to  realize  the  important  part  that  vocation  will  play  in 
his  life,  for  helping  him  to  choose  his  vocation  wisely,  for  bringing  him 
to  appreciate  the  necessity  of  a  broad,  yet  none  the  less  specifically 
determined  foundation  for  this  work  and  perhaps  for  specialized  training 
after  graduation.  Finally,  since  the  college  has  a  social  as  well  as  an 
individual  goal,  it  is  responsible  for  helping  the  student  to  see  the  social 
significance  of  the  various  fields  of  work  and  the  social  responsibility 
which  each  entails  upon  the  men  and  women  who  choose  it. 
CXhis  social  goal  of  the  college  is  bound  up,  indeed,  with  its  individual 
goal.     Through    neglect  of  the  former  it  must  inevitably  fall  short  of 


90  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

the  latter.  The  institution  may  send  forth  its  graduates  equipped 
with  noble  ideals  and  purposes,  but  the  functioning  of  these  purposes, 
the  opportunity  to  live  nobly  and  fully  will  be  largely  conditioned  by 
the  social  environment  which  provides  or  withholds  the  stimuli  for  those 
responses  toward  which  the  college  has  bent  its  highest  effort.  If  the 
growth  and  development  which  the  college  has  striven  to  foster  in  the 
undergraduate  are  to  continue  along  the  same  basic  lines  after  graduation, 
if  the  old  ideals  and  purposes  are  not  to  be  abandoned  as  unworkable 
and  unproductive,  the  social  environment  must  become  more  truly 
adjusted  to  human  needs  and  human  aspirations.  If  the  college  is  to  be 
a  dynamic  force  in  reorganizing  this  social  milieu  which  conditions  the 
final  effectiveness  of  its  product,  it  must  send  forth  men  and  women  who 
carry  into  their  work  not  merely  the  technical  skill  which  the  professional 
schools  may  supply  as  an  aid  to  personal  advancement,  but  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  critical  social  problems  of  the  time  which  are  so  largely 
economic  in  their  origin,  an  appreciation  of  the  relation  which  the  work 
of  each  bears  to  these  problems,  and  a  desire  to  really  do  something 
toward  their  solution. 

The  tragedy  of  the  age  is  the  dearth  of  enlightened,  effective  leader- 
ship in  the  hour  of  the  world's  greatest  need  and  richest  opportunity. 
The  need  is  for  men  and  women  who  have  not  only  a  social  purpose,  a 
social  vision  and  the  personal  qualities  which  make  men  willing  to 
follow  their  leadership.  These  qualifications  are  essential.  But  to 
make  such  leadership  issue  in  productive  social  change  instead  of  being 
dissipated  in  will  o'  the  wisp  strivings  for  phantom  Utopias,  it  must  be 
enlightened  by  knowledge  of  social  origins,  social  changes,  the  original 
nature  of  man  and  the  laws  by  which  original  nature  may  be  effectively 
modified.  In  no  field  more  than  in  business  is  such  enlightened  leader- 
ship needed,  for  the  crux  of  the  social  unrest  lies  in  the  maladjustment 
of  capital  and  labor.  The  American  college  sends  to-day  30  per  cent 
of  its  male  graduates  into  business.  To  train  leaders  has  always  been  a 
prominent  aim  of  the  liberal  arts  college.  To  realize  the  type  of  leader- 
ship demanded  by  the  present  and  the  immediate  future,  is  the  first 
requisite  for  meeting  this  responsibility.  But  if  the  college  is  to  make 
such  training  effective,  it  must  abandon  its  faith  in  formal  discipline, 
and  educate  the  college  youth  specifically  for  the  kind  of  social  func- 
tioning it  expects  of  him. 

The  vocational  phase  of  the  writer's  interpretation  of  a  liberal  educa- 
tion has  been  stressed  here,  not  because  it  is  the  singly  important  aspect 
of  the  graduate's  life,  but  because  it  has  been  so  largely  ignored  or  re- 
pudiated in  the  past.     The  writer  is  convinced  that  for  the  student 


Problems  Suggested  by  this  Study  91 

vocation  is  a  highly  effective  motive  and  a  vital  organizing  centre  for 
study,  and  that  for  the  graduate  it  constitutes  one,  perhaps  the  most 
important  organizing  center  of  his  life,  with  intimate  interrelations  with 
practically  all  other  phases  of  his  activity.  At  the  same  time  his  attitude 
toward  vocation,  and  his  effective,  enlightened  functioning  in  vocation  is 
of  basal  significance  to  social  welfare. 

A  growing  appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  courses  more  clearly  rela- 
ted to  the  life  needs  of  students,  is  evidenced  by  the  introduction  of 
courses  in  contemporary  social  problems  which  a  number  of  colleges  are 
now  offering  for  Freshmen.  Columbia  prescribes  such  a  course,  called 
Introduction  to  Contemporary  Civilization,  which  is  a  direct  descendant 
of  the  War  Issues  Coiu-se  of  the  S.A.T.C.  Dartmouth'  gives  a 
cotu-se  called  Problems  of  Citizenship,  prescribed  for  Freshmen.  The 
college  announcement  says,  "The  purpose  of  this  course  is  to  open  the 
minds  of  men  at  a  very  early  stage  of  their  college  course  to  intelligent 
consideration  of  the  great  problems  of  life  which  lie  about  them  and 
with  which  they  must  be  prepared  to  cope,  as  individuals,  as  members 
of  society,  as  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  America."  President 
Meiklejohn  of  Amherst  announced  in  his  report  for  1914  a  course  on 
Social  and  Economic  Institutions  as  a  new  elective  for  freshmen. 

There  are  hopeful  signs  that  the  need  for  better  teaching  in  the  college 
is  being  increasingly  appreciated.  In  addition  to  numerous  articles  in 
educational  and  semi-popular  magazines  voicing  this  need,  a  book  deal- 
ing with  teaching  methods  in  college  has  recently  appeared;''  Yale 
College  has  appointed  a  Dean  of  Freshmen  to  administer  the  new  plan 
of  a  joint  freshman  year,  which  plan  carries  with  it  a  chance  for  promo- 
tion to  men  who  have  the  "instinct  for  classroom  teaching";'  and 
most  interesting  of  all,  the  Faculty  of  the  School  of  Agriculture  of  Penn- 
sylvania State  College  recently  imdertook  a  serious  study  of  methods  of 
teaching  imder  the  instruction  of  Professor  Kilpatrick,  of  Teachers  Col- 
lege, Colimibia  University. 

A  tendency  to  assume  some  responsibility  for  vocational  guidance  has 
been  developing  rapidly  in  the  last  five  years,  more  extensively  in  the 
women's  colleges  than  in  the  men's  colleges.  These  guidance  activities 
have  frequently  had  their  beginnings  in  placement  or  appointment 
committees,  which  have  gradually  extended  their  function  to  include 
the  providing  of  vocational  information  and  often  more  or  less  thorough 
individual  diagnostic   work.     Sometimes,  however,  the    initiative   has 

'  Dartmouth  College  Catalogue,  1920-21,  p.  64. 

*  Klapper:  College  Teaching. 

»  President's  Report,  Yale  University,  1920. 


92  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

been  taken  by  the  dean,  student  advisers  or  other  interested  members  of 
the  faculty.  These  attempts  to  help  students  to  find  themselves  voca- 
tionally have  usually  got  under  way  with  no  attempt  to  square  the 
developing  practice  with  existing  theory  as  to  the  purpose  of  the 
liberal  arts  college. 

The  proportions  that  vocational  activities  are  assuming  in  the  colleges 
was  emphasized  by  the  conference  in  New  York  on  February  23  and  24, 
1921,  of  the  deans  of  women  and  secretaries  of  appointment  committees 
in  colleges  having  women  students,  who  met  to  exchange  experiences 
and  ideas  on  the  subject.  Fifty-six  men  and  women  representing 
forty-four  colleges  and  vocational  bureaus  were  present.  Barnard  and 
Smith  reported  appointment  bureaus  operated  separately  from  the 
dean's  office,  which  furnished  vocational  information  and  advice  in  ad- 
dition to  carrying  on  the  work  of  placement. '  Smith  has  also  a 
system  of  vocational  talks  to  sophomores  and  seniors  and  an  annual 
vocational  conference.  Vassar  reported  an  occupational  bureau  under 
the  department  of  wardens  (heads  of  halls),  a  faculty  vocational  com- 
mittee with  one  member  from  each  department  to  whom  students 
might  be  sent  for  advice;  preparation  by  this  committee  and  the  voca- 
tional bureau  of  a  vocational  bulletin;  an  alumnae  committee  on  social 
work  which  will  gather  information  as  to  opportunities  in  this  field  from 
groups  of  alumnae  all  over  the  country;  plans  for  the  formation  of  simi- 
lar committees  for  other  fields  of  work;  vocational  conferences;  articles 
in  the  college  paper;  provision  of  books  on  vocations,  and  a  personnel 
research  bureau  under  the  direction  of  the  department  of  psychology. 
Holyoke,  Northwestern,  Pennsylvania  State,  Ohio  State  and  the  Wo- 
men's College  of  Delaware  reported  the  work  carried  on  through  the 
dean's  office.  Holyoke  and  Wellesley  have  as  a  visiting  adviser.  Miss 
Jackson  of  the  Women's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union  of  Boston. 
Her  work  is  the  giving  of  information  rather  than  advice.  She  has 
weekly  or  bi-weekly  conferences  at  Wellesley  and  monthly  meetings  at 
Holyoke.  Goucher  has  a  resident  vocational  adviser  who  is  also  as- 
sociate professor  of  economics  and  sociology. 

Pennsylvania  State  College  has  a  student  vocational  committee  which 
is  valuable  in  arousing  interest.  They  study  books  and  pamphlets 
under  the  guidance  of  the  dean,  take  the  census  of  vocational  interests, 
answer  questions  of  students  and  take  charge  of  bulletin  boards.  Mills 
College  reported  a  course  on  vocational  opportimities.     Miss  Hirth,  of 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  both  of  these  colleges  have  recently  reported 
a  very  decided  swing  away  from  teaching  and  toward  other  types  of  work  on  the 
part  of  their  graduates. 


Problems  Suggested  by  the  Study  93 

the  Bureau  of  Vocational  Information,  reported  that  a  movement  had 
been  inaugurated  for  a  system  of  occupational  bureaus  for  men  with  a 
clearing  house  in  New  York  for  the  colleges  in  that  section  of  the 
country. 

Leland  Stanford  Junior  University  has  a  very  active  faculty  commit- 
tee on  vocational  guidance.  Each  member  of  the  committee  is  assigned 
a  group  of  vocations,  for  knowledge  of  which  he  is  made  responsible. 
This  committee  supplements  the  work  of  the  departments  and  provides 
especially  for  students  who  have  not  selected  a  vocation.  It  issued  in 
Jime,  1919,  a  very  helpful  bulletin  of  vocational  information  dealing 
with  seventeen  major  fields  of  work,  with  suggestions  in  regard  to  each 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  work,  personal  qualifications  demanded,  finan- 
cial considerations  and  other  rewards,  opportunities  for  promotion, 
entering  the  profession,  cost  of  training,  most  helpful  courses,  etc.  ^ 

Dartmouth  just  a  year  ago  established  the  office  of  associate  dean 
with  the  purpose  of  eliminating,  or  at  least  reducing  materially,  the  post- 
graduate period  of  business  floundering  which  many  college  graduates 
must  undergo  before  they  settle  down  to  their  life  work.  * 

Brown  University  has  a  committee  on  educational  advice  and  direc- 
tion. '  This  committee  will  make  careful  study  of  individual  students 
as  a  basis  for  educational  and  vocational  guidance.  The  head  of  the 
psychology  department  is  its  chairman. 

At  Cornell,  *  the  university  adviser  for  women  has  for  a  number  of 
years  been  carrying  on  rather  extensive  work  in  vocational  guidance, 
including  personal  conference,  courses  by  non-resident  lecturers,  books 
on  vocations,  and  cooperating  alumni  clubs. 

Alfred  College  has  a  vocational  committee  of  the  faculty  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Twentieth  Century  Alumni  of  the  College,  one  member 
of  which  is  usually  the  head  of  the  department  of  education.  Personal 
advice,  lectures  by  alumni  and  other  outside  speakers,  vocational  chats 
in  the  college  paper,  and  books  are  the  chief  modes  of  guidance. 

If  these  changes  and  others  which  are  taking  place  in  the  college  are 
to  be  rationally  evaluated  and  developed  along  intelligent  lines,  they 
should  be  unified  and  related  within  a  well  thought  out  college  policy 
based  upon  clearly  envisaged  goals.  Such  terms  as  "liberal  education," 
"general  culture,"  are  too  vague  to  serve  as  the  basis  for  scientific  deter- 
mination of  policies,  selection  of  subject  matter,  or  evaluation  of  method. 

1  Vocational  Information  Bulletin,  No.  22,  June  1919,  Leland  Stanford  Junior 
University,  California. 

*  "Vocational  Guidance  at  Dartmouth  College,"  School  and  Society ,  April  3,  1920. 

*  Report  of  President  of  Brown  University,  1919. 

*  Report  of  President  of  Cornell  University,  1910. 


94  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

They  must  be  replaced  by  specific  objectives  in  terms  of  habits:  mental, 
emotional,  and  physical;  attitudes;  ideals  and  appreciations;  knowl- 
edge, both  for  understanding  and  control;  skills;  psychological  pro- 
ducts to  be  established  in  the  nervous  systems  of  individuals,  each  by 
the  application  of  appropriate  psychological  methods. 

Just  what  these  specific  goals  ought  to  be  in  order  to  contribute  in 
greatest  measure  to  individual  and  social  well  being  can  only  be  deter- 
mined in  the  light  of  facts.  These  basal  facts  are  to  be  found  first  in  an 
analysis  of  social  needs,  and  second,  in  an  analysis  of  the  activities  of 
college  graduates  in  their  everyday  life.  One  very  large  group  of  such 
activities  centres  in  vocation,  which  indeed  is  so  intimately  related  to 
those  centering  in  family  life,  civic  functioning  and  recreation  that  it 
may,  in  fact,  be  considered  a  conditioning  factor  in  most  of  the  others. 

The  survey  which  formed  the  basis  of  this  study  could  not,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  be  comprehensive  enough  to  furnish  sufl&ciently  exact 
data  to  serve  as  a  guide  in  determining  college  objectives  as  they  relate 
to  the  vocations  of  college  graduates.  It  suggests,  however,  some  of 
the  possibilities  of  such  a  survey  which  might  well  be  undertaken  on  a 
larger  scale  by  the  cooperative  efforts  of  the  colleges  themselves. 

Assuming,  in  the  light  of  practices  already  developing,  that  the  college 
will  eventually  assume  conscious  responsibility  for  some  vocational 
direction  of  its  students,  what  administrative  provisions  can  be  sug- 
gested which  may  most  effectively  aid  the  student  in  finding  himself 
vocationally?  The  writer  believes  that  an  orienting  course  for  fresh- 
men, which  will  have  as  its  prime  object  the  arousal  of  definite  life  pur- 
poses, not  merely  with  reference  to  vocation  but  with  reference  to  other 
aspects  of  life  as  well,  might  profitably  be  the  initial  college  approach. 
Vocation,  through  such  a  course,  would  be  interpreted  to  the  student 
in  terms  of  its  social  significance  and  in  its  intimate  interrelations  with 
other  activities  which  will  constitute  his  life,  rather  than  as  an  isolated 
process  having  only  to  do  with  earning  a  living.  So  interpreted,  the 
student  will  be  better  able  to  appreciate  the  motives  other  than  financial 
which  should  enter  into  his  choice  of  a  life  work.  He  should  realize 
that  "To  find  out  what  one  is  fitted  to  do  and  to  secure  an  opportunity 
to  do  it  is  the  key  to  happiness.  Nothing  is  more  tragic  than  failure  to 
discover  one's  true  business  in  life  or  to  find  that  one  has  drifted  or  been 
forced  by  circtunstances  into  an  imcongenial  calling.  A  right  occupation 
means  that  the  aptitudes  of  a  person  are  in  adequate  play,  working  with 
the  maximum  of  satisfaction."  ^  Both  from  the  standpoint  of  indi- 
vidual happiness  and  of  effective  social  functioning  the  college  may 

^Dewey,  Democracy  and  Education,  page  360. 


Problems  Suggested  by  This  Study  95 

worthily  aim  to  develop  something  of  the  attitude  toward  vocation 
which  is  conveyed  by  Van  Dyke's  poem  "Work." 

Let  me  but  do  my  work  from  day  to  day. 

In  field  or  forest,  at  the  desk  or  loom. 

In  roaring  market-place  or  tranquil  room; 

Let  me  but  find  it  in  my  heart  to  say, 

When  vagrant  wishes  beckon  me  astray, 

"This  is  my  work;  my  blessing,  not  my  doom; 

Of  all  who  live,  I  am  the  one  by  whom 

This  work  can  best  be  done  in  thfe  right  way." 

Then  shall  I  see  it  not  too  great,  nor  small. 

To  suit  my  spirit  and  to  prove  my  powers; 

Then  shall  I  cheeiful  greet  the  labouring  hours. 

And  cheerful  turn,  when  the  long  shadows  fall 

At  eventide,  to  play  and  love  and  rest. 

Because  I  know  for  me  my  work  is  best. 

The  approach,  then,  to  vocational  guidance  would  be  through  educa- 
tional guidance.  This  orienting  course  would  naturally  carry  with  its 
arousal  of  purposes,  direction  as  to  means  of  carrying  them  to  fulfill- 
ment by  helping  the  student  to  appreciate  the  contributions  of  the 
different  studies  of  the  curriculum  as  well  as  the  potential  training 
value  of  the  non-academic  activities  of  the  college.  If  the  student's 
purposes  and  the  purposes  of  the  college  could  be  brought  into  harmony, 
the  energy  necessary  for  effective  work  would  be  released.  But  it  is 
essential  that  the  student  see  the  relation  of  college  requirements  to 
ends  which  he  holds  valuable.  Vocation  will  be  one  of  these  ends  but 
by  no  means  the  only  one. 

In  helping  the  student  to  appreciate  the  relation  of  the  various  studies 
to  his  life  purposes,  the  cooperation  of  the  different  departments 
should  be  enlisted.  Through  short  units,  perhaps,  they  may  give  the 
student  some  understanding  of  the  contributions  made  by  each  field  of 
study  not  as  a  "discipline"  but  as  a  means  of  understanding,  enjoying, 
controlling  activity  and  environment.  This  relating  must,  to  be  effect- 
ive, necessarily  be  in  terms  of  the  student's  experience  and  ability  to  see 
the  relationships  in  question.  One  phase  might  well  be  a  suggestion  of 
the  different  fields  of  work  into  which  a  given  study  or  group  of  studies 
may  lead,  or  for  which  it  forms  a  valuable  backgroimd,  or  even  a  founda- 
tion stone. 

Such  a  course  would,  needless  to  say,  require  vital  teaching  in  the  col- 
lege courses  which  followed  it.  To  whet  a  student's  appetite  and  then 
send  him  away  disappointed  and  disillusioned  would  be  serious. 
But  it  may  well  be  that  if  students  were  made  conscious  of  what  they 
had  a  right  to  expect,  and  really  demanded  satisfaction  of  felt  needs  in- 
stead of  passively  accepting  as  much  of  what  is  handed  to  them  as  is 


96  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

necessary  to  make  a  gentleman's  grade,  we  should  have  a  surer  guaran- 
tee of  more  vital  college  teaching  than  even  the  much  needed  supervision 
of  college  teaching  could  secure. 

So  far  as  the  vocational  aspect  of  this  course  is  concerned  it  should 
lead  to  a  student  demand  for  two  things.  First,  it  should  create  a  de- 
mand for  help  in  personal  analysis  to  discover  aptitudes,  strength  and 
weakness,  to  serve  as  a  guide  in  choosing  and  eliminating  certain  fields 
of  work,  and  also  as  a  guide  for  personal,  self- directed  effort  toward 
improvement  along  needed  lines,  using  the  facilities  which  the  college 
provides  through  its  general  life,  its  curriculum,  and  its  faculty. 

The  second  demand  created  should  be  for  specific,  accurate  and  de- 
tailed information  in  regard  to  vocations  suitable  for  college  graduates. 
This  information  should  include  the  remuneration  which  these  fields  of- 
fer, not  only  initially  but  their  ultimate  possibilities,  the  rate  at  which 
one  may  expect  advancement,  the  returns  other  than  financial,  oppor- 
tunity for  service,  leisure,  study,  etc.,  the  amount  and  kind  of  further 
preparation  necessary,  where  this  preparation  may  be  secured  and  its 
approximate  cost,  the  qualities  essential  to  success,  including  the  general 
intelligence  level  of  the  men  in  any  field  with  whom  an  individual  would 
have  to  compete,  the  college  courses  which  would  be  directly  helpful 
vocationally,  serviceable  as  preparatory  or  as  background  courses  for 
the  specialized  training  to  follow. 

The  diagnostic  work  should  be  carried  forward  as  scientifically  as 
present  knowledge  will  permit.  Something  in  the  nature  of  a  person- 
nel bureau  such  as  Vassar  is  developing  would  serve  not  merely  to  bring 
together  data  from  all  available  sources  as  to  the  students'  traits :  mental, 
physical  and  social,  but  would  constitute  the  occasion  for  devising 
better  methods  of  rating  on  qualities  other  than  the  purely  scholarly, 
and  stimulate  the  attempt  to  develop  vocational  tests  applicable  to 
college  graduates.  The  only  such  test  which  we  now  have  is  the  intelli- 
gence test.  Intelligence  tests  should  be  given  to  college  students  and 
follow-up  records  should  be  kept  to  show  the  degree  to  which  the  scores 
achieved  correlate  with  success  in  various  callings.  Such  a  bureau  would 
constitute  the  research  or  student  stu-vey  department  of  the  college, 
serving  it  in  many  other  ways  beside  that  of  diagnosis  in  connection 
with  vocational  guidance. 

The  informational  phase  of  the  work  may  well  be  carried  on  in  a  vari- 
ety of  ways.  A  course  of  lectures  and  conferences  given  by  members  of 
the  faculty  and  successful  men  and  women  in  the  various  fields,  books, 
and  where  possible  some  actual  trying  out  of  tentative  choices  during 
the  summer  vacation  would  be  helpful.     Whether  the  work  was  under 


Problems  Suggested  by  This  Study  97 

the  direction  of  the  dean,  a  faculty  committee,  or  a  resident  adviser 
would  depend  somewhat  upon  the  facilities  of  the  college.  Some  one 
person,  a  very  well  trained  person,  would  be  directly  responsible  for  the 
direction  and  coordination  of  the  work,  but  he  should  have  the  assistance 
of  a  great  many  people,  each  responsible  in  detail  for  some  part  small 
enough  to  enable  him  to  know  and  keep  up  to  date  with  reference  to  it. 
In  particular  each  teacher  should  be  expected  to  know  intimately  the 
chief  fields  of  productive  work  into  which  his  subjects  lead.  This  type 
of  responsibility  would  be  one  of  the  best  stimuli  to  the  kind  of  contacts 
which  will  keep  the  teacher  alive  and  growing. 

In  conclusion,  the  writer  believes  that  if  the  American  college  is  to 
fulfill  its  high  calling  of  preparing  men  and  women  to  live,  it  must  recog- 
nize the  necessity  of  redefining  its  objectives  in  terms  of  the  actual 
needs  of  society  and  of  its  graduates  who  must  live  and  work  in  that 
society.  It  must  reorganize  its  curriculum  in  the  light  of  these  well 
thought  out  and  scientifically  determined  and  analytic  aims.  It  must 
enlist  the  energies  of  the  student  to  utilize  to  the  limit  of  his  capacity 
the  facilities  which  it  offers,  by  arousing  his  purposes  and  making  them 
one  with  the  purposes  of  the  college  for  him.  It  must  develop  through 
investigation  the  knowledge  which  he  needs  to  direct  his  purposes  in- 
telligently toward  fulfillment.  It  must  recognize  and  apply  the 
principles  of  modern  educational  psychology  in  the  teaching  through 
which  it  strives  to  bring  about  the  knowledge,  the  habits,  the  skills, 
the  ideals  and  the  appreciations  which  constitute  its  goals. 


REFERENCES 

BOOKS 
Birdsbye:     The  Reorganization  oj  Our  Colleges. 
Bloomfield:    Readings  in  Vocational  Guidance. 
Brewbr:     The  Vocational  Guidance  Movement. 
Crawford  and  Others:     The  American  College. 
Dewey:    Democracy  and  Education. 
Eliot:    Educational  Reform. 
Flexner:     The  American  College — A  Criticism. 
Foster:    Administration  of  the  College  Curriculum. 
Gundelfinger:     Ten  Years  at  Yale. 

Hall:     Vocational  Guidance  Through  the  Library.    A.  L.  A.  Publishing  Board. 
Hollingworth:     Vocational  Psychology. 
Hudson:     The  College  and  New  America. 
KeppEl:     The  Undergraduate  and  His  College. 
KellEy:    Educational  Guidance. 

King:     The  Wealth  and  Income  of  the  People  of  the  United  States. 
Klapper:     College  Teaching. 
KoLBE :     The  Colleges  in  War  Time  and  After. 
Ralph  and  Allen:    Record  Aids  in  College  Management. 
Snedden:    Problems  of  Educational  Readjustment. 
Snedden:    Social  Determination  of  Objectives  in  Education. 
Snow:     The  College  Curriculum  in  the  United  States. 
Strayer  and  Thorndike:    Educational  Administration.     Sec.  16:  The  Inefficiency 

of  College  Entrance  Examinations.     Sec.   17:  The  Studies  Actually  Taken 

for  the  A.  B.  Degree. 
Streightopf:  The  Distribution  of  Incomes  in  the  United  States. 
Thwing:     College  Administration. 

Thwing:     The  American  College.    What  It  Is  and  What  It  May  Become. 
Who's  Who  in  America:    Editions  of  1910-11;  1914-15;  1818-19. 

PERIODICAI^ 

Bevier:     "College  Grades  and  Success  in  Life."  (Educational  Review,  Nov.    1917) 
Brewer:    "The  Need  for  Vocational  Guidance  in  Colleges."    (School  and  Society 

May  1,  1920) 
Birdseye:    "The  College  Curriculum  as  a  Preparationfor Vocation."  (Education, 

Jan.  1912) 
Boyd:    "Extra-Curricular  Activities  and  Scholarship."  (School  and  Society,  "Ftb. 

5,  1921) 
Capen:    "The  Dilemma  of  the  College  of  Arts  a.ndSciences." (Educational  Review, 

April  1921) 
Capen:    "The  New  Task  of  the  American  Colleges."  (School  and  Society,  Sept. 

4,  1920) 
Cattell  :    "A  Statistical  Study  of  Eminent  Men. "  (Popular  Science  Monthly, 62 :  359) 
CraythornE:    "Change  of  Mind  Between  H.  S.  Entrance  and  College  as  to  Life 

Work."    (School  and  Society,  Jan.  3,  1920) 

Dexter:     "High  Grade  Men;  in  College  and  Out."  (Popular  Science  Monthly,  62: 
429) 

98 


References  99 

Foster:    "Should  Students  Study?"     {Harper's  Magazine,  Sept  1916) 
PursT:     "Tests  of  College  Efficiency."       (School  Review,  Vol.  XX,  No.  5) 
HadlSy:    "Choosing  a  Career."  (Yale  Alumni  Weekly,  Mar.  3,  1916) 
Hutchinson:    "Vocational  Interests  of  College  Women."    {Columbia   University 
Quarterly,  June  1915) 

Jennings:  "Vocational  Guidance  in  College  and  University."  {Educational  Re- 
view, April  1916) 

KSPPEl, :  "Occupations  of  College  Graduates  as  Influenced  by  the  College  Course. ' ' 
{Educational  Review,  Dec.  1910) 

KiTSON:  "Psychological  Tests  and  Vocational  Guidance."  {School  Review,  March 
1916) 

Knapp:  "The  Man  Who  Led  His  Class  in  College  and  Others."  {Harvard  Graduate 
Magazine,  March  1916) 

Kunkel:  "Standing  of  Undergraduates  and  Alumni."  {School  and  Society,  May 
12,  1917) 

Leonard:  "Occupations  of  the  Graduates  of  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts — State 
University  of  Iowa."  {Midland  Schools,  Sept.  1914) 

Lowell:  "College  Studies  and  Professional  Training."  {Educational  Review,  Oct. 
1911) 

Magruder:    "The  Junior  Colleges  as  a  Relief."  {Educational  Review,  April  1921) 

Mead:  "Orientation  Course  for  Freshmen  at  Brown  University."  {School  arid 
Society,  March  18,  1916) 

Miner:  "A  Vocational  Census  of  College  Students."  {Educational  Review,  Sept. 
1915) 

Moore:  "Three  Types  of  Psychological  Rating  in  Use  With  Freshmen  at  Dart- 
mouth." {School  and  Society,  April  2,  1921) 

Myers:    "Present  Day  College  Problems."  {Educational  Review,  April  1921) 

Nicholson:  "Standardizing  the  Marking  System."  {Educational  Review,  October 
1917) 

Nicholson:  "Success  in  College  and  in  After  Life."  {School  and  Society,  Aug. 
14,  1915) 

Payne:  "Scholarship  and  Success  in  Teaching."  {Journal  of  Educational  Psychol- 
ogy, April  1918) 

•^^aoll:    "The  Relative  Standing  in  College  of  Graduates  Entering  Various  Pro- 
fessions." {School  and  Society,  May  26,  1917) 
Simpson:    "Reliability  of  Estimates  of  General  Intelligence  With  Application  to 

Appointments  to  Positions."  {Journal  of  Educational  Psychology, 

April  1915) 
Smallwood:    "The  Fate  of  the  Liberal  Arts  College  in  American  Universities." 

{School  and  Society,  Aug.  30,  1919) 
Taylor:    "The  Study  of  Methods  of  Teaching  by  a  College  Faculty."  {School  and 

Society,  March  6,  1920) 
Thorndikb:    "The  Permanence  of  Interests  and  Their  Relation  to  Abilities." 

{Popular  Science  Monthly,  Nov.  1912) 
Thorndike:     "Educational  Diagnosis."  {Science,  Jan.  24,  1913) 
Thorndike:    "The  Selective  Influence  of  the  College." {Educational  Review,  30:  l) 
Van  KlEEk:     "A  Census  of  College  Women."  {The  Journal  of  the  Association  of 

Collegiate  Alumnae,  Vol.  XI  No.  9,  May  1918) 
Walters:    "The  Scholastic  Training  of  Eminent  American  Engineers."  {School  and 

Society,  March  12,  1921) 
Wells:    "Systematic   Observation   of   the   Personality."  {Psychological  Review, 

July  1914) 
Wither:    "On  the  Relation  of  Intelligence  to  Efficiency."  {Psychological  Clinic, 

May  1915) 


100  College  Achievement  and  Vocational  Efficiency 

Woods:    "The  Social  Waste  of  Unguided  Personal  Ability."  (American  Journal 

of  Sociology,  Nov.  1913) 
Editorial:       "Vocational  Guidance  at  Dartmouth  College."  {School  and  Society, 

April  3,  1920) 

UNITED  STATES  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION  BULLETINS 

BuRRiTT:    Professional  Distribution  of  College  and  University  Graduates.    Bulletin, 

1912,  No.  19. 
Capen:    Recent  Movements  in   College  and    University  Administration.    Bulletin, 

1916,  No.  46. 
John:    Requirements  for  the  Bachelor's  Degree.    Bulletin,  1920,  No.  7. 
McDowell:     The  Junior  College.    Bulletin,  1919,  No.  35. 
Ryan:     Vocational  Guidance  in  the  Public  Schools.    Bulletin,  1918,  No.  24. 
Robinson:     The  Curriculum  of  the  Woman's  College.    Bulletin,  1918,  No.  6. 

OTHER  GOVERNMENT  PUBLICATIONS 

War  Department,  Office  of  Surgeon  General:    Army  Mental  Tests. 
CoMjnssioN  on  Classification  of  Personnel  in  the  Army:    Personnel  Work  in 
the  United  States  Army,  Adjutant  General's  Department. 

COLLEGE   PUBLICATIONS 

Brewer  and  Kelly:    A  Selected  Critical  Bibliography  of  Vocational  Guidance. 

Harvard  University  Bulletin,  No.  4,  Feb.  1917. 
Committee  on  Vocational  Guidance  :  Vocational  Information.  Leland  Stanford,  Jr., 

University  Bulletin,  No.  22,  1919. 

Annual  Reports  of  College  Presidents,  1914-1920,  especially: 


Amherst 

1914 

Brown 

1919 

Columbia 

1918-1920 

Darthmouth 

1920 

Cornell 
Yale 

1910 
1920 

Harvard 

1918-1919 

College  Catalogues.  1914-1920. 

Alumni  Registers  of  colleges  covered  by  this  study. 


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